Moore History - Deep In The Heart of Texas

Breaking through Brick Walls Part 6: Descendancy Research

2010-10-21T15:40:00.000-07:00

Finding Current Descendants Part II

I am told quite often I am “lucky” when it comes to finding long lost cousins and those we do not know existed. Luck is not part of my life, I feel it comes from doing some good detective work and like anything else takes know how and practice. In genealogy we always start from what we know and that is what I have done. With finding both my THENNES and MAKOSKY cousins I started with what I knew; the surname and the hometown.

I had searched for the MAKOSKY’S before but could not find them on Facebook. I started with my four cousin’s names and they are not on Facebook, but one of the wives are. Did I know their wives names? No, but I was able to piece information together to find what I needed to find them.

The first place I went to was www.zabasearch.com. Zabasearch is not a database but a search engine that goes out looking for public record and compiles them into a list for you that may give you some additional info for your research. Not all the time, but sometimes it will list:

1. Middle initial

2. Birth month and year

3. Previous known addresses

4. Date of compiled report

When I looked for my cousins, I found three of the four here with middle initials. I knew approximate years and ages, but nothing exact until this info. Finding Jimmy with his middle initial was crucial for being able to find the right MAKOSKY.

With this information I then went to www.whitepages.com. White pages are a more recent list of where people are and can also give you more information on the people. Here I found wives names and for Jimmy was able to verify it was the right one I was searching for because part of the household also listed his parents. A cool side note here, if you are searching on a nickname such as Jim but the person is listed as James, Whitepages is smart enough to detect that and search for the combination of Jim’s.

So from this simple detective work, I took this information back to Facebook, typed in MAKOSKY and 170 popped up. I had the names of the wives and on the second page there was Jimmy’s wife. I instantly emailed her and received a reply and now we are connected.

So is Facebook a Good Thing or Bad Thing? In many, many ways it is a good thing. It is a great tool to help people re-connect and stay connected from far away. The downside for me and so many others, just like genealogy it can become addicting. If you do not have a Facebook page due to worry about privacy issues, then don’t post your private information! I will be interested to see how many of you decide to connect with Facebook, or maybe already are and have found long lost cousins. I know I am not the only one!!!

Breaking through Brick Walls Part 5: Descendancy Research

2010-10-20T07:52:00.000-07:00

Finding Current Descendants

In the last year I have found TEN living families that are descendants from my Moore and Thennes line. I have found cousins I did not even know existed. How did I do it? By doing exactly what I have explained in the previous blogs on descendancy research. In the beginning it was cluster research where I sniffed out my grandfather’s brothers and sister in order to find out more about him. So cluster research and descendancy research go hand in hand.

Three branches of my family I found via their family trees. Remember I go searching for trees for my ancestors every few months or so. One branch of my tree came walking into my local Family History Center! No lie- we share the same third great grandparents, Nathaniel Jackson Moore and Rebecca Adams. Her great great grandmother was a sister to my great great grandfather.

The remainder five lines I found on ….Facebook! Yes Facebook!!! Let me tell you it does help to have “different” names to be able to search. Moore is a common name, but my Mom’s maiden name of THENNES is not. Shortly after my mom passed, I decided to go on a mission and learn about her father, my grandfather Fred Thennes. Now I know this has little to do with my Texas Moore History, but the concepts behind them are still the same.

With this line, I simply typed the name THENNES in to Facebook. I have been told any search under 1,000 is doable. Ha Ha This was under that number so I began to look at what had pulled up. The second name I clicked on did not have a THENNES last name but I figured her maiden name was Thennes. In looking at her profile, I saw that magical word of Michigan and the home town of my mom. I instantly emailed her, her reply to me was “How do you pronounce our name?” There are many different ways that people pronounce it, but only those in the family seem to know the right pronunciation. I passed the test and she accepted me as family. (Family branch 1) I had many questions because I had only met my grandfather once for just a few seconds and I truly wanted to get to know who he was. She told me she would ask her father my questions. When I did not hear anything from her in a couple of weeks, I posted on her wall. There her mother (Family branch 2) saw it and directed me towards her GRANDMOTHER (Family branch 3)!!! Her grandmother directed me to her first cousin and also sister in law (Family branch 4) who not only knew my Grandfather the best but took care of him. I learned a great deal about my grandfather. Not only did I come to love a man I never knew, but gained so much compassion and respect for him. I thought how sad how our remarks and judgments keeps us apart from people we would probably love if only given the chance.

Another line I found on Facebook also belongs to my Mom. I only knew one set of cousins growing up and that was my MAKOSKY cousins in Michigan. We spent many a summers in Michigan and they many a summers in Iowa. I had always wondered what became of them, especially Ricky. Tomorrow, I will tell you how I once again connected with this family on Facebook, but how it took a little bit of detective work to get to that point.

Facebook really is a great tool to connect with people. I know there are all the Privacy Issues, but my simple reasoning is if you don’t want people to have you phone and address DON’T LIST IT ON FACEBOOK. I have been on now for over two years with never a problem. I am actually very glad such a thing exists because it is a great way to gather long lost friends and family and connect with them!

Breaking through Brick Walls Part 4: Descendancy Research

2010-10-17T12:04:00.000-07:00

Message Boards and Other Things

Have you discovered message boards yet for your research? Message boards are a great way to let others know who or what you are looking for. What are message boards? There are several different kinds, one of my favorites being the county message boards on www.ancestry.com.

Go to Collaborate | Message Boards

Ancestry Message Boards: http://boards.ancestry.com/

There are two different types of Message Boards on Ancestry.com. They are LOCALITY and SURNAMES. What are locality message boards? Just what it says, the location of your research. Because I want to keep this as much to my Moore’s and Texas research as I can, I will refer to the United States link. But just know that there is a county board for all the United States. To get to the United States Message Board you can follow these directions

Click United States | States | Name of State (aka Texas)| Counties | Name of County (aka Williamson)

follow the link:

Ancestry State Message Boards:

http://boards.ancestry.com/localities.northam.usa.states/mb.ashx

Once on the Message Board you can do a search, browse through the messages for submissions and answers, or post a new message.

To SEARCH a Message Board type a name or key word in to the "Search Field"

To START a new message is called “Begin a New Thread”

To BROWSE through the Message Board simply use your mouse to scroll through the posts

This is only to get you started and make you aware of the message boards. You can set up notifications when ever anyone posts to the board, and also find other boards that may assist you in your search. As genealogist we have a mind set to find names, dates and places. Often times with the Message Boards someone will be looking for help on a line they are searching and it is from there you never know what or who will come across your post.

What would my blog be with out a great Message Board Story? Someone had posted an inquiry regarding the Forehand Family from Tennessee. I was somewhat familiar with this family because Richard N. Forehand was married to my second great grandmother Virginia. Remember, when I found my Grandfather in the 1900 census he was living with his grandparents Richard and Virginia Forehand. One of the first things I did in my research was look for a Minerva Forehand with a Father Richard and Virginia. I found some maybe’s but nothing concrete. I searched the Forehand line to see if I could find who Virginia was. Nothing. I ran in circles trying to discover who Minerva’s parents were and who was Richard and Virginia Forehand. So when I saw the post about the Forehand family from TN (which is where Richard was from) I typed a quick reply stating I tied into this line but I was in the process of moving to Texas and would get back to them regarding what I had. I also stated in that reply that my grandfather Vernon Moore was in the 1900 Census living with his grandparents Richard and Virginia MOORE FOREHAND. Virginia was never a MOORE I accidentally added the MOORE by mistake. Ten minutes later I had a reply from a gentleman who told me, “Laura I couldn’t believe my eyes when I saw your post.” He went on to tell me that Richard was his Great Grandfather and he had been chasing Virginia MOORE for years. I thought MOORE where did he get that? I discovered my mistake and posted a reply with her real name. Virginia’s maiden name was LYONS from Indiana. She married Cornelius Cain and when he died, she eventually married Richard Forehand. Part of the 32 year puzzle it took me to find. I often think what would have happened had I not added the wrong last name for Virginia?

Now you are probably asking yourself, “Hello Laura!!! Marriage record!!” I searched for a marriage record, but never could find one. I finally found their marriage record located in Travis County, Texas; a neighboring county. What I have learned since moving to Texas is I believe my ancestors were closer to Austin rather than Georgetown. So when it came time to file records they went to Austin and not Georgetown. Needless to say, this man was thrilled to be able to break through this brick wall and to have a copy of my great grandmother’s will, to see pictures etc. Message boards…..another possible break through on those brick walls!!

PS Sorry for the delay in posting this, but I tried very hard to get a screen shot to show you what I was talking about and it would not work! So please let me know if something does not make sense and I will do my best to help guide you to the message boards! Laura

Breaking through Brick Walls Part 3: Descendancy Research

2010-10-16T05:56:00.000-07:00

Finding Uncle Claude

Part of the process I have learned when looking for descendants of my ancestors, is that you never know where they will pop up. Uncle Claude is a good example of that. I knew Uncle Claude existed. But I did not have any connection with his family and felt very hesitant to contact him. Plus I know he was born before 1930 as he was listed in the census and didn’t know how much help he could really be if he was still alive. Don’t every underestimate what an older relative can tell you!

One of the tasks I do with my Moore line is that I will do a “search” for my grandfather and his siblings. I know the word “search” takes in a variety of ways to go searching. Are you talking about Ancestry? Google? What are you talking about Laura? I search a few places for them about every four to six months.

One of the first places I search is www.rootsweb.com. Go to Family Trees | Search Family Trees. That easy, type in your names and see if you get any hits. This is a free site.

The second place I went to was www.ancestry.com. You need an account on Ancestry, even if it is a free account. What I like to do for my favorite pay subscription sites is to join for a month at a time and rotate between my favorite sites. Go to Search | Public Family Trees and type in the names you are searching. I like searching for family trees because I can possibly find other cousins who have been bitten by the genealogy bug and have posted a tree. This is how I found Uncle Claude.

Every 4-6 months, I will type in my grandfather and his siblings to see if there is a tree that someone has posted and/or working on. I had done this a couple of times before and I admit it was frustrating not finding any strong leads. So imagine my surprise when I typed in Ellen Moore’s name, (yes my dear Aunt Ellen to the rescue again) and a tree pops up. The tree had three names, Ellen’s, her husband Claude, and their son Claude. There were some dates, but other than that, that was the tree. After doing my Snoopy Dance I emailed the owner of the tree. Her response to me was, “Who do you belong to?” I got a chuckle out of that line! We share the same Great Grandparents, Nathaniel Jackson and Minerva Cain Moore. Her father is Claude, and to me the cutest 93 year great uncle ever- Uncle Claude!

I immediately sent her what I had and we drew up plans to meet a day in June 2010. I admit I was nervous. I did not know if they would accept me or reject me as I feel I had been my entire life. Looking at Uncle Claude I could see the Moore in him, and I teared up. I never thought in a million years I would ever get to this point in my life where I would meet someone who could help me with my Moore Genealogy. Uncle Claude had stories, and names, and places. I could go back to look for the records and he was right on. What a great blessing to have an older relative that could pass on these stories to me and others so we can preserve them.

It was interesting talking to Uncle Claude because there were things I was able to tell him that he did not know. One was about my grandparents, his Uncle Vernon and Aunt Grace Moore. I asked him if he knew there were actually four children, he did not. I told him the story of how I came about Baby Grace’s death certificate and the story behind her death. He lightly wiped his eye and said, “I am sorry to hear that.”

Even though I had a good handle I felt on my grandfather and his siblings, Uncle Claude was able to fill me in on small details like Grady. Grady died young in Minnesota and I learned he was beaten to death for refusing to join a union. Uncle Jack (Jr) had a liking to the bottle, and he was found in his room dead. Bell had joined the Marines or Navy and ended up in Portsmouth, NH where he stayed. I was glad to know his name was “Bell” and not “Bill” as all the obituaries seemed to list him as. Lee ended up in Santa Barbara, CA following his in-laws from MN to CA in the 1940’s I believe. Ellen was the glue of the family. In Jack (Jr’s) obituary it stated they were waiting on her arrival for the funeral. One of the highlights of the day with Claude was a letter from his mother Ellen to my Grandparents. They had a great time reading the letter and the history that was contained in it. That was only one of the highlights! When he told me he had contact with all my grandfather’s siblings’ descendants, I once again welled up. Not only did he have contacts with their descendants, he has pictures!!! I have not gotten copies yet, but I know I will.

I am just grateful to know there is someone out there who knew our history. This leads me to believe I am not alone. When I hear of those who say they have hit brickwalls, there is no one alive to help them I say “Don’t Give Up!!” Tomorrow I will talk about other places to look and other searches you might want to try in searching for those ever elusive cousins.

Breaking through Brick Walls Part 2: Descendancy Research

2010-10-15T11:07:00.000-07:00

Surprise! Surprise! Surprise!

Yesterday I spoke of how beginning to search my grandfather’s siblings I came across a few surprises.

Surprise #1: Ellen Erving was living with her brother A L Moore in 1920 in Minnesota. My first reaction was that I had the wrong Ellen Erving but in checking the data it all matched what I had already gathered for Ellen; her birth year, place of birth and parents birthplace. What didn’t match up was her brother. Her brother A L Moore was also born in Texas, his father’s birthplace was correct but not his mother’s. Then it dawned on me. Was there another marriage?

Now to make everything a bit more confusing, I will speak of two Jack Moore's. One is my great grandfather (Sr.) and the other is Jack Sr's son and my great uncle (Jr.)I went back to the 1880 Williamson County census and sure enough, I found a Jack (Sr.) and Rebecca who had two children, Arthur and John. The birth dates matched up and I was 99.9% sure this was my great grandfather and his first wife Rebecca. In finding the first marriage, I needed to know who Rebecca was. It took some looking but I finally found their marriage record in Travis County, Texas not Williamson County where they resided. I have actually found several marriage records in Travis County rather than Williamson County. With finding the marriage record, I learned that Rebecca’s last name was Burleson and was a niece to Texas hero General Edward Burleson. All this from finding Ellen living with a brother I didn’t know existed.

Surprise #2: Jack Moore (Jr.) (Ellen’s brother) in the 1930 census stated that he had a “sister” named Georgia Martin. A sister? Had I overlooked another sibling? I felt I had found all the census records I could find on my great grandfather Jack (Sr.) and the two families. The 1880 census Jack (Sr.) was married to Rebecca, and there was not 1890 census. So my next choice was to go through court records in Williamson County, TX and see if I could find Georgia listed as a sibling. Luckily, the Williamson County land records are online Williamson County Texas land records online, so I started there.

There are hundred’s of land records for Moore’s in Williamson County because they were some of the early settlers and had around 3600 acres of land in the Taylor area. I started with Jack (Sr. and Jr.) and searched the records again but found no inkling of a Georgia Martin as a sister. I then began to search each of the children starting with Arthur Lee Moore as the oldest and figured if Georgia was a sister he would be from my great grandfather's first marriage to Rebecca Burleson. Imagine my surprise to find a record for A L Moore that stated, “Here comes Arthur Lee Moore and his wife Lizzie”. I thought Lizzie? Who is Lizze? Arthur’s wife’s name is Florence. Could it be another marriage? So you see how this kept leading to more mysteries. Now I am searching for a Georgia Martin and a Lizzie Moore.

I have contact with someone who connects into Arthur’s line and I asked her if she knew about another marriage for Arthur, she did not. At the Georgetown Public Library is an index to Marriage Records for Williamson County. I picked up the book, laid it on the table, the book plopped open to the page where I saw A. L Moore and Lizzie Westbrook. “I’ll be danged!” I murmured out loud. Another patron in the Genealogy room asked, “Find something good?” “Oh yeah”, I said. “I just found a marriage record I did not know existed.” Then I told her about the book just plopping open to the right page. She said, “Okay that just gave me goosebumps!” All I could think of was I had searched this family for over 30 years, and all of a sudden I felt Lizzie was saying, “Wait don’t forget about me!!” Okay Lizzie, I found you, now what do I do with you!!!

Interesting enough I asked my Uncle Claude if he knew about the marriage. He just grinned and said, “Yes I did, but I want to know how you know about it?” I chuckled and said, “I am a pretty good little detective aren’t I?” Uncle Claude said he had overheard his mother and Uncle Lee (Arthur went by his middle name Lee) talking one day, but when his mother realized he was listening, the conversation ended.

So in looking for Georgia Martin, I came across a marriage I did not expect, but what about Georgia? Who was she? I had traced Jack (Jr.) through the Great Falls directories listed on Ancestry.com. I had a general idea of when Georgia died as she was no longer listed in the directory after 1944 and before 1947. But in my searches I could not find a marriage record. I asked a friend if I was missing something and she found Georgia had been married to a Joe Martin but we could find no record of Georgia and Jack being married, and in the 1930 census it stated they were brother and sister. I presumed from the beginning they were not brother and sister and had never married. However when I spoke with Uncle Claude he told me they had married. So I went back to the drawing board and finally found they were married on 06 Nov 1937 Townsend, Broadwater, Montana. Notice the date of 1937, seven years after the 1930 Census where someone claimed they were brother and sister and also out of the county where they resided.

So by simply finding Ellen living with her brother, A L Moore (Lee) I found another marriage for my great grandfather. By looking at the second child Jack, I found yet a second marriage for Lee, and eventually a first marriage for Jack. This was all becoming quite confusing to me as a very mixed up family!! Also notice how two of these marriage records were found outside the counties in which the families resided. Tomorrow I will tell you how I found Uncle Claude and how he helped fill in more pieces of the puzzle as well as bring more mystery!!

Breaking through Brick walls Part 1: Descendancy Research

2010-10-14T06:55:00.000-07:00

A few years ago when I was very frustrated and thought I would never learn my Great Grandparents names I felt the only way was to come forward. But in a Genealogy chat room when I began asking questions of how I would go about finding living descendants, the gentleman said, “Please don’t tell me you are thinking of searching forward? It is a waste of time!!” They told me to keep looking for my records, and eventually I would find them. So I did.

In August 2009, I heard a presentation titled “Hit a Brickwall Searching Backwards? Search Forward”. I was interested in what Crista had to say and when I heard her story, I knew that was my answer!! And so the journey began.

First of all you need to pick a married couple to work with. For me it was my elusive great grandparents I only knew as Jack and Minerva Moore. I started with what I knew. I knew when their first child was born, Ellen in 1882. Their marriage must have happened before this but I had no date and no record. I took Ellen and begin to trace her through the census and build a time line.

1900 Taylor, Texas living with Grandparents Richard and Virginia Forehand

1910 Chicago, Illinois - Attending Nursing School

1920 Washington Co., Minnesota living with Brother A L Moore Brother?

1930 Santa Barbara, California

It took me a third try to find Ellen in the 1910 Census. I had searched in Texas, South Dakota, and Minnesota with no luck. I just knew she was in one of those states. After talking to Uncle Claude, I did a nation wide search and finally found her in Nursing School in Chicago. Knowing she was a nurse, helped me to pinpoint her in the many Ellen Moore's I found. One of the things I did know and am not sure how I knew it, was that Ellen was married to a Claude Erving. So in 1920 when Ellen Erving was in MN living with A L Moore I didn’t know who the A L Moore was, it was not one of the brothers I had found. It turned out there were TWO Marriages for my Great Grandfather, the first being to Rebecca Burleson, and 2^nd to Minerva Cain.

From just tracing Ellen I learned of a second marriage, who her children were, and they had moved from Texas. But why? And where was her husband? I did this with each of the children, tracing them through each of the census trying to find children and the area they had gone to.

All I saw was a family that was never connected, gypsies like myself. In meeting with my great uncle Claude he filled in some of the pieces of the puzzle. Ellen was the oldest of the children and the only girl. When she became of age, they as a family decided to sell all their property in Taylor (but one acre) and move to South Dakota to homestead. Ellen was 11 when both parents had died, Jack Jr. 10, my grandfather Vernon 8, Bell 6, and little Grady was 4. By the 1910 Census, my grandfather was with his grandparents as well as Grady, but all the other children were gone. Through my Uncle I learned my Grandfather took one winter in South Dakota and decided it was too cold and came back to Texas. We are unsure of why Grady came back, but he is also listed on the census that year. Had it not been for Uncle Claude clueing me into this, I would have never found the Homestead grants for them I did in South Dakota!!!

I eventually found Ellen in the 1910 census living in Chicago, IL going to Nursing School. I did not know she was a nurse till I met up with Uncle Claude. However, I could have been more aware of it had I noticed on the 1930 Census when Ellen was in Santa Barbara that she was a “visiting nurse”. So through each sibling, I did this same process, tracking them through the census, and creating a timeline.

I found Jack Jr. in Montana. He was listed in several City Directories for Great Falls, but in 1930 he eluded me for quite some time. I finally discovered him as Cack Moore in the index. Always be aggressive when searching through an index or soundex. If you knew they were there, don’t just take the answer “they were probably missed.” Interesting find was on the 1930 Census I found him with a Georgia Martin who was listed as a “Sister”. Did I miss a sibling? Stay tuned tomorrow as I clear up that mystery.

Vernon is my grandfather and I had him pretty well documented.

Bell I found in Portsmouth, NH. I not only found him in the census, but also found newspaper articles on him in the local newspaper. One article gave an account of his nephew Claude coming to NH with his boy scout troop and the two meeting for the first time. Another article spoke of his retirement with a picture of Bell! And these articles I found all because I went in search of his obituary.

Grady, the baby of the family I found in St. Paul, MN. I learned Grady died at a very young age, but could never find much more on him other than a WWI Draft Registration and a death certificate. Grady’s name was always listed as W Grady Moore and I “assumed” W meant William as we had Williams in our line. But according to his Draft Registration card it stood for Woodfren. No idea where that name came from, but I would have gone by Grady too! Uncle Claude knew his story. Another tragedy for this family in that Grady refused to join the Union at a meat packing house where he worked and was beaten to death. Still looking for the obituary and newspaper articles on Grady.

So just by searching my Grandfather’s siblings I learned a lot about the family. Tomorrow I will tell you how doing this research, clued me into some surprise marriages.

How I Have Broken Through Brickwalls

2010-10-13T11:04:00.000-07:00

It has been quite some time since I have written on my blog and decided I needed to make the commitment to get back with it. Since the last time I have written much has happened with my Moore’s and I feel that I need to pass what I have learned along to all of you! It is my hopes that it will help others who are searching their Moore lines as well.

One of my biggest breakthroughs I feel is being able to talk with the cutest 93 year old great uncle ever! I knew he existed, but had reservations about contacting him. Now, I am on a mission to find descendants of my ancestors and I feel I have been very successful. I have spoken of my elusive Moore Family here before, and how after 32 years I learned the names of my Great Grandparents.That information came from a letter my Great Aunt Ellen wrote to my grandparents (her brother) in April of 1963. The letter ended up with my Aunt Carrie, who passed away in February 2005. How did I end up with the letter?

I have never had a bond or connection with my family. My parents divorced in 1966 when I was 7 and my mom moved us from Texas to Iowa. The family link there was with family in Texas pretty much was gone when we left for Iowa. In 1999 my dad passed away and I reconnected with my cousin Jennie. Through the next few years, I had a greater desire more than anything to learn about our family history; but no one knew anything! Not even a name! The only information they knew was what I would feed them. I needed more, I wanted to place a name and a face together and I wanted to know who my great grandparents were. I begged for pictures and received a few and Jennie suggested I write our other cousins. She had the addresses, so I got brave and wrote.

Through the reaching out to family I had not seen in over 40 years, I found my answer. My cousin Missie told me her dad would send me some genealogy. I thought it would be a few pages but instead it was a huge box of certificates, death records, marriage records, pictures and the list goes on. In the midst of it all was a letter from Aunt Ellen to my grandparents with my Great Grandparents names. The letter also stated they were part of Austin’s Old 300, a picture of our Great Great Grandmother existed in a book of the early Texas settlers and our Great Great Grandfather Thomas A Moore was one who was captured in Goliad and drew a white bean and was set free.

Although there was a lot of information in this letter, I wanted more. Ellen became my main focus and because of following her, I found additional information on my Moore family including her son and my Great Uncle Claude. It was Claude who filled in many missing pieces of the Moore Family, as well as provides more mystery. In the coming days, I will share the process of what I have done in hopes it will help others in their search as well.

In coming weeks, I will show you how to come forward and find cousins who may have your answers. Are you on Facebook? It is a great way to connect and find cousins. Are you making your self “Findable” so that others who are searching your line will be able to connect? What if you remember a cousin from years ago but have lost contact with them? Can you really find them again? Come learn how to do it all!

Williamson County Archive Photos and other Bunny Trails

2010-03-12T08:47:00.000-08:00

WOW! Has it really been over a month since I have blogged this? I don't know if it is a good reason, but I do have reason. I have been learning much about Texas Resources and where to go looking for records. When you do genealogy for over 30 years, you think you have been down all the paths and then some. But as evident this past weekend I am still finding paths I have not been down.

So let me me give you some background on my Moore family that has escaped me for 30 years. In 1977 I began my search for my ancestors. At 18 I had just moved to Salt Lake City, and one of my roommates was a genealogist which I had no clue what that meant. She said, "I'll show you" and took me to work with her the day next and turned me over to a volunteer at the then Genealogy Library now Family History Library. I was given a Pedigree and all I knew on my Moore line was my father and grandfather's names and they were both born in Texas. They had the same name and were a Jr. and Sr. I started by looking in the 1880 census and my grandfather was not there as I would learn he was born in 1884 in Texas. When the 1900 census became available, I found my grandfather with his four siblings living with their grandparents. Thus the confusion began....it couldn't be that Richard Forehand was the father of the children's mother, he was a step grandfather. It would be thirty years to figure out this family. I was grateful to learn I was not the only one tripped up by my mysterious Virginia Forehand.

I would learn that the parents, Jack and Minverva Moore, died when the oldest child was 11 and the youngest was 4 years old. As the children became of age they all went North one by one and then went their separate ways. One by one I was able to find the five children, which brings me to this past weekend. Nathaniel Jackson Moore, Jack to family and friends, was the second of the five children, but the last one to be researched because he had the most common name.

My research led me to his WWI Draft Registration card in Montana. 1920 found him in a logging camp and then he seemed to have disappeared. A kind lady in the FHC in Round Rock found a death record for him in the Montana Death Index. Then things got interesting. Jack died in Great Falls, Montana and so then I began to search the city directories. First of all his name was varied, sometimes listed as Jack Moore, N Jackson Moore, Jack N Moore, Nathaniel Moore....take your pick. But in 1944 there was Georgia in the same household. Prior to this I had only found him as single. Once again I searched for Jack in the 1930 census and finally found him listed as Cack N Moore. There with him was Georgia, listed as HIS SISTER! He had one sister, Ellen and I had never seen any Georgia before. But I was determined to figure out who Georgia was. Panic attack 1!

I went back to the probate and land records of Williamson County to see if maybe I missed something somewhere. In my searching the land records, I found another brother (half brother) with a wife named Lizzie. LIZZIE!! Who the heck is Lizzie and where did she come from? Panic attack 2! At this point I became very overwhelmed and broke down a bit. For over thirty years I have searched this family and was ready to tie them up and all of a sudden here were two more people I had to figure out who they were. It was almost like these two ancestors said "Oh no don't forget about us!!" They couldn't have shown up 30 years ago? Man talk about procrastination!

On Monday in the Georgetown Texas Library, I went in search of marriage records for Williamson County Texas. Honestly I doubted I was going to find anything, but picked up a Marriage Record book, sat it on the table and it opened to the page that read Arthur L Moore and Lizzie Westbrook. I'll be danged! He did have a first marriage to Lizzie before moving north and settling in Minnesota.

I sent the information on Georgia to my genealogy friend, and she did a bit more basic research. Then on Tuesday in the FHC we got together and three of us discussed Georgia. Georgia had been married to a Joseph Martin and had two children. But for whatever reason, we think Georgia was never divorced and therefore could not marry Jack. So when the census taker came around, she answered the questions and said she was his sister. SHE LIED!! One day her and I are going to have a heart to heart talk about this and the tailspin she sent me on.

I also put a message on the Ancestry board for Cascade County, Montana and a nice lady Kathie found his obituary and posted it for me. When I read it, my heart so ached for this family. The children grew up on a cotton plantation in Taylor, Texas. They were very much the socialites of Taylor as they were always listed as a guest at someone's party. But with each child as I have learned more about them, they also suffered many hardships. Ellen was the oldest and was responsible for the siblings and also buried 2 of her 4 brothers. Jack who was the second oldest was found dead in his room. This broke my heart, as he had been there at least a day before he was found. His beloved Georgia preceded him in death. My grandfather Vernon, lost his oldest daughter when his wife Grace's raincoat was caught in the bus door, and she fell with her 12 day old daughter. She died soon after. Bell, had moved to NH early in his life, never to see him brothers again. He was able to see his nephew Claude who was coming for a boy scout trip, and that was the first time he had ever see his nephew or any of his family. Grady the baby of the family, died at young age in his 30's. Still searching for his obituary and some details of his life.

Through this all I have gained such a respect and love for my family. Nothing was known about this family, and somehow I have managed to find pictures and records so we can learn who they all were. Which brings me to today at the Georgetown Library. The nice librarian that was here and I were talking about photographs when I mentioned I would need to make plans to go to the Williamson County Historical Society and he said, "Have you checked our photos?" He was so gracious to show me where the link is to the photos online! Thank you Robert and Georgetown Library!!! I bet you all want the link too don't you? Okay here you go!

http://digitalcollections.georgetown.org/

So with that, I wish you all Good Luck and hope you find a picture of your ancestor! I found a Professor Moore at Southwestern University. Now I need to see who Professor Moore is!

Photo courtesy of Georgetown Public Libary.

Happy Hunting Fellow Genealogy Sleuthers.....POOF! Gone till next time!

Hunting Williamson County Records

2010-02-01T06:34:00.000-08:00

I wanted to share with all of you a couple of things I have found in the last few weeks. It all started with the challenge of Geneabloggers that I made a trip to the Round Rock Library in search of books that may be helpful to others who were researching in Williamson County, TX.

I may have mentioned this before, but I am mentioning it again because it is important to remember when you are researching to think OUTSIDE THE BOX. My grandfather Vernon Doak Moore was with his grandparents Richard and Virginia Forehand in the 1900 census. Who was Richard and Virginia and how did they fit into my MOORE line other than they had the five grandchildren was a mystery for many years. Probates indicated that the children's parents were Jack and Minerva Moore and both had died after 1894 and before 1900. The last child was born in 1894 so this was the approximate death dates I came up with In my search I could find no death record for Jack or Minerva. Also I found Minerva's with Richard Forehand as the father, but none that fit the criteria I had. Where is my dang family if they are in Williamson County!!! Grrrr It was a vicious cycle.

I had come to learn than Minerva was actually the former Minerva Cain and finally poor Virginia was able to have a surname put with her other than MOORE. However, there was still alot of mystery in this family and I did not understand why in Census records they seemed to be in Williamson County, but when it came time for death and marriage there were no records. So back to looking at the books in the Round Rock library. On the other side of the shelves from Williamson County are the Travis County books

Travis and Williamson County border one another, but I guess in my mind I kept them separate because to travel that far in the late 1800's or 1900's seemed unlikely to do. Imagine my surprise to pick up two different marriage record books from Travis county and fine two separate marriage records I had been searching for. Searching for as in for over 30 years. I was not the only one, another gentleman told me he had been chasing Virginia for over 20 years. She was a sly little rascallette!

In Travis County I found Richard and Virginia's marriage record!! I had a marriage record!!! I had her married name from her first marriage!!! Why couldn't I have found this 30 years ago! I also learned from my research that my great grandfather Jack Moore had been married twice. The second marriage was to my great grandmother Minerva, the first to a Rebecca Burleson. I had searched for that record as well, and also in Rebecca's home county (I thought) of Bastrop County. But I did not find it, till I pulled out the Travis County Marriage Records and shazam there it was!!!

Sometimes we forget the obvious in our search. I know I had been told to search neighboring counties, but there are several counties that neighbor Williamson County!!! And somewhere in all this it slipped through the cracks!!! With the finding of marriage records I went to see what else I could find in Travis County.

Imagine my surprise to find Nathaniel and Rebecca Moore (my great great great grandparents) living next to Thomas and Mary Moore (my great great grandparents) and next to them was the Burleson family. Thomas and Mary's son Robert married Martha Jane Burelson and there she was living next door. A farm or two away were the Williams Family, Mary's parents. And so it goes on.

The next thing I had to do was document this all so I remember where I found them. As I was reminded in a genealogy class on Saturday, county boundaries change. Learn about the county your are researching. If you go to Wikipedia.com you can learn about the county

So your lesson for the day is: If you cannot find your ancestors where you think they should be, step back and approach a different way.

Have you checked the neighboring counties for records?
Have you looked at genealogical societies in the area to see what they may have online. It was through the Austin Genealogical Society that I found some records and started digging a bit further to see what else I could find on my ancestors.
Do you know what newspapers were available for that area? Newspaperarchive, Genealogybank are both good resources.
Have you checked family trees to see if someone else is searching your line?
Are you a member of your public library? Many public libraries offer databases on line to patrons that could assist you in your research.
Still at a dead end.....have you take a recent genealogy class? It is always a good way to step outside the comfort zone and maybe get into uncharted territories.

The other thing I wanted you all to know that are doing research in Williamson County, TX is that you can find many land records ONLINE and Free!!! How you ask?
Williamson County Records Online. One thing to note is that you can save a copy of the document to your PC and when you do, you will get a watermark across the document that states UNOFFICIAL COPY. To get that taken off, you would need to get a copy from Williamson County. It was a very sweet feeling to see my ancestors in Book 1 of the records. Not all records are online yet, I know they are working on them. But there are alot of cool things that are and maybe assist you in your research.

So there you have it some more options that may assist you in your research in Williamson County, TX!!!

Happy Hunting everyone!!!!

Characters In My Closet

2010-01-08T12:32:00.000-08:00

I call myself a genealogist. I love the search for ancestors, the thrill of finding a new piece of information, and the pleasure of sharing what I have learned. When I began this blog, initially it was going to cover the Moore’s History in Texas, but has become so much more than that. Too many times recently I have heard that “Aunt Tillie doesn’t have an interest in family history and doesn’t want to be bothered.” Or “there are too many skeleton’s in my closet I would rather not know about.” My favorite though is when people tell me, “I don’t see how looking at microfilm after microfilm, or sitting in an old dusty courthouse can be called fun”. The truth is neither could I! I am so glad I don’t do genealogy that way!

This morning I was watching a rerun of the show “7th Heaven”. It is about a minister’s family who has five children and two parents, thus 7th Heaven. The episode today surrounded the Thanksgiving Holiday and Eric’s sister coming to spend the holidays. Everything seemed so normal on the outside, but inside was a different story. Eric’s sister, Julie had become an alcoholic and she became a person no one knew. She became hateful, selfish, mean, and it didn’t matter who she hurt to get another drink of alcohol. Each family member had to work through their own pain, and forgiveness to be able to get back to a point where they could once again become a family. I broke down when it was pointed out that “Aunt Julie was sick with a disease call Alcoholism”.

I guess it struck me so hard, because I realize I am still dealing with many things from my past, and in doing genealogy realize so many traits have been carried down from generation to generation. As a young child I watched my Dad give my brother a beer when I was 4, and my brother 6. I can still see my brother stumbling around after drinking it and my dad and his buddy laughing. They thought it was funny. I was a sophomore in high school and my brother was a senior, when one night he drove home drunk and stumbled up the stairs. It scared me then, and saddens me today.

Vernon Doak Moore Sr, Grace Linn Schoenbohm Moore, Vernon Doak Moore Jr.

When my dad died, there was an empty whiskey bottle found under his bed my dad was sick, very sick. He wasn’t sick with cancer, he was sick with alcoholism. Alcohol took over his life. Somehow I have gotten lucky, I don’t drink. A friend once asked me if I ever wondered what I was missing out on by not drinking and I said, “No, I do enough stupid things by myself I don’t need alcohol to help me.” I am glad I have taken this road, it is a bit safer. But just because I don’t drink doesn’t mean I don’t have an illness.

My “drug” of choice is food, and in particular, sugar. I love the chocolate, and most anything with sugar tied into it. But, I have also discovered that it is a battle with me and one I need to figure out how to deal with. Right now, I am off sugar until Valentine’s Day. Then I shall re-evaluate and setup another battle plan for the sugar war.

So what has all this got to do with Genealogy? Too often times we find the skeleton’s or as I like to call them the “characters” in our research and we either don’t know what to do with them, or ignore them and hope no one else will discover them. Too often times we slap a label on them, and turn a different direction expecting the problem to go away.

So what do we do with the “Characters in Our Closet?” I think it is important to tell their story as much as the hero story. For my Great Grandfather that I affectionately call “my character in the closet”, I can see his daughters had a great love for him. The person that is portrayed in the newspaper article of assassinating H G Dubose, is not the person they knew.

Genealogy is more than just finding names in a census, or a grave in a cemetery. It is truly finding out who that person was. One case in point deals with my grandfather Vernon Doak Moore Sr. As a child I remember him as a mean old man. Near by his chair was a spittoon that I remember him spitting his chew tobacco in a lot! He chased us with his cane, yelled at us to settle down, was gross when he spit and probably called us names. All the typical stuff of an ole mean person. But when I talk with the older relatives, they remember a different person when they were younger. One relayed to me that when my grandmother was asked why she married my grandfather, she simply said, “He was funny and a lot of fun to be around.” I could never see my grandfather as fun. But in my research I found listing after listing of grand parties held in Taylor, Texas and my grandfather and his siblings always being amongst the listed guests list. It wasn’t one or two parties, but several. Another article on his sister’s wedding stated that “Ellen and her siblings were quite popular the social events.” My grandfather, a socialite? What happened?

To understand where things might have changed for my grandfather, you would have to understand his past. He was born on April 4, 1886 and raised on a cotton plantation. He was only 14 years old when both his parents had passed away and he was left to his grandparents. From the numerous of probate records there are, there was much time spent in courts dealing with the large sum of money the children had been left. Some of the siblings had moved on to the Dakota Territory, my grandfather seemed to have stayed in Texas. In 1917 he married my grandmother and seemed to kind of move around, finding them in at least three different census records in three different counties. His first child was a baby girl, who died at only twelve days old. The house I remember them living at in Corpus Christi was bought for them by their daughter Kathy. Kathy’s husband was a WWII fighter pilot and died doing a test maneuver.

I look at the labels I have put on my grandfather and ask myself, why? Why do we put labels on anyone? I find when I do, then my compassion, love and sympathy for people seem to disappear and I become that other person. I become that person I don’t want to be remembered as. So in my quest for researching my family history, I am striving to find those characteristics that make them who they are. They say everyone has one good thing about them, but often that is overlooked as anger takes over.

I hope today my grandfather is looking down smiling as I try to tell his story. My favorite of him is one of him and his cat Frisky. The shortened version of the story is my grandfather always yelled to my grandmother, “Women there is no chicken in my chicken and dumplings.” My grandmother would sweetly reply, “Yes there is keep looking!” Oh did I forget to tell you my grandfather was blind? You guess what happens to the chicken when a blind man sits down to dinner with a cross eyed Siamese cat nearby!

We always hear to collect your family stories now while you can. By talking with relatives that knew them, you will be able to get a better picture of who they were. What were their loves and passions? What kind of music did they like? What were their hobbies? There are so many things that can clue us in on what things changed their lives to make them a part of our history. My grandfathers are definitely “The Characters in My Closet”. But none the less, they get a spot in my history. After all they have earned them.

Williamson County Library Resources

2010-01-05T16:19:00.000-08:00

I have learned from being here in Williamson County, TX to do research there is a learning curve to finding what you are looking for. In my few trips to the Taylor, Georgetown, and Round Rock libraries, here is some info that will hopefully help you if you come to Williamson County to do research in person. It has been trial and error with me, so hopefully this info will help you save some precious time.

http://www.ci.taylor.tx.us/index.aspx?nid=25

Taylor, TX Library-- has some scrapbooks, city directories and a few other things that can only be found in the Taylor Library. If you ancestors lived in Taylor, and you have extra time on the agenda, it is a place to go. You might just get lucky. I have been twice now, and have been a bit disappointed, but on the other hand found something I would have not found any where else. The main problem in Taylor is nothing is indexed. The library does house microfilmed copies of the Taylor Press, but it is not the best source due to being hard to read and not being indexed. Normally when I get to the Taylor Library, it has been in the afternoon and I am only able to spend a few hours. However, I have found the cattle and horse brands listed earlier in my blog. That was cool!

http://library.georgetown.org/

Georgetown, TX Library---Now, I do have to admit I LOVE going to the Georgetown Library. They are limited on resources, but there are two things there I cannot find anywhere else. The first thing would be the Williamson County Sun. I did not know about this paper until Mr. Love (my second reason for loving the Georgetown Library) told me about it. Mr. Love is a cute little guy who is a walking encyclopedia of Williamson County. You can give him a surname, and if they were prominent in the county, he can tell you about them. He talks about “continuity” of a family, which I find quite intriguing

I have aunts who are much older than me and talk about their growing up years and how close they all were. But in asking about my MOORE line, they never met any of them. I also sense that when my Great Grandparents died, and the children became of age, they all went their separate ways. There were seven children, and two of the seven I have found no substantial records of. I have few pictures of some of the siblings as adults, and John never seems to be mentioned again. Bell, is mentioned sparsely in a letter from his sister to his brother. Grady it seems died at an early age, and Lee died in the 60’s. Jack, I have no clue where he went or is today. My MOORE family for the most part is a huge mystery in my life. There is just no “continuity” or closeness in the family, and it seems to go back from generation to generation.

But as mentioned above, the Williamson County Sun has provided some details. My great grandmother’s obituary in the Williamson County Sun dated April 12, 1894 simply stated, “Mrs. Minerva Moore, widow of an old settler from this county is dead.” Got to love those old obituaries! So the Williamson County Sun is informational, if you have a date to search. As I gather dates for my family, I will search the Williamson County Sun. It is a fascinating paper as it encompasses all of Williamson County and has been in publication for over 100 years. The drawback for all of you—currently it is only available as far as I know in the Georgetown Library.

http://www.roundrocktexas.gov/library/

Round Rock, TX Library – It was decided many years ago that the Round Rock library would house the Williamson County genealogical records. They have a small section on Williamson County records, such as Marriage records, cemetery records etc., but there is a descent amount of information available for the state of Texas and many of the counties. Again, there are a few odd things there I have found most helpful. One was a book titled “Taylor and its Neighbors” that had some interesting information and pictures in it. There is also the Pioneer Settlers information IF it has been submitted by a descendant. To become part of the Williamson County Pioneer sector, you must prove your ancestor was in the county before December 31, 1880. There is a cost of $10 in which you get a pioneer certificate and your ancestor listed in the Williamson County Pioneers.

So those are pretty much our choices for library resources here in Williamson County. As I said earlier depending on what I am looking for, is which library I will head for. Of course, there are other resources I will list as time goes on, of cool things (I think anyways!) I have found in my research. Have you seen the map of Williamson County that lists the land plots NAMED!! Very cool!!!

Don’t forget to sign up as a follower of TexasMooreHistory, then you will know when I update my blog! Again Happy Hunting, and if you have ancestors in Williamson County, Texas please tell me about them!!!

Williamson County Public School Teachers 1893-1894

2010-01-03T15:56:00.001-08:00

Williamson County Public Schools for 1893-1894
Apportionment and Post Office Addresses
Extracted from the Williamson County Sun; Georgetown, TX – Dec 7, 1893

**Note: For some schools, there are teachers and post offices missing. This is the way the article read. I am guessing they may did not have all the information when they went to print and so they printed what they had. I will try and remember to look for the following weeks paper and see if the additional names are there. I would love to hear if your ancestors were found on this list. Happy Hunting! Laura

WILLIAMSON COUNTY PUBLIC SCHOOLS FOR 1893-1894 Apportionment and Post-Office Addresses
Dist.	Name of School	No. Pupils	Amt for 1893-94	Teachers	Post Office

1	N Georgetown	58	292.05	C A Lord	Georgetown
1	Philadelphia	36	166.30	Miss Sallie Smith	Georgetown
2	Berry's Creek	60	277.15	S A Chapman	Georgetown
2	Strickland Grove	48	218.76	Miss Josie Brown	Georgetown
3	Leander	32	144.00	Miss Annie Pickle	Leander
3	Strickland Grove	89	400.50	J O Owen Miss Anna Lowrey	Leander
4	Cedar Park	59	225.00	G H Mays	Cedar Park
5	Pond Springs	84	379.00	W M Houghton	Buttercup
6	Liberty Hill	180	886.00	D L Hamilton J E Hamilton Miss Moss Richardson Phenie White	Liberty Hill
6	South Gabriel	50	225.00	Miss Clara Bowmer	Leander
6	Silent Grove	38	177.30	Miss Virginia Hall	Liberty Hill
7	Concord	53	175.50	Miss Addie H Faublon	Gabriel Mills
7	Sycamore	35	157.50	I W Horton	Gabriel Mills
7	N Gabriel	42	193.20	Miss Jennie Wilson	Liberty Hill
7	Mt Horeb	22	99.00	Frank Lair	Gabriel Mills
7	Seymour	48	207.00	Miss Cora Williamson	Gabriel Mills
8	Rock House	57	256.50	J E Porter	Liberty Hill
8	Hunt	44	198.00	S J Matthews	Liberty Hill
9	White House	50	225.00	J C Carpenter	Florence
9	Wales	36	153.00	Miss Minnie Harvey	Florence
9	Centre Grove	39	190.50	Jno. T Hall	Liberty Hill
10	Florence	130	586.00	H Mowrey Miss Della Scott Miss Lou Hall	Florence
10	Prairie Lea	89	401.20	W T McGee Miss Mattie Faublon	Florence
10	Centre Point	37	166.50	Miss Neely Price	Florence
10	Gravel Hill	57	256.50	J B Chapman	Florence
10	Wade	39	175.50	Miss Angie Bridgewater	Florence
11	Owens	60	270.00	Miss Jennie Skaggs	Corn Hill
12	Corn Hill	143	655.40	A L Smoot Miss B K Skaggs	Corn Hill
12	Primrose	50	225.00	W W Jenkins	Corn Hill
12	Flat Rock	46	201.01	Mis Sula Watson	Corn Hill
12	Theon	21	157.50	Alex Pate	Corn Hill
13	Axe	61	274.50	T D Erwin	Granger
13	Walburg	63	290.50	W D Weimers	Walburg
13	Robbins	54	243.75	O H Robbins	Walburg
14	Circleville	44	198.00	N W Garner	Circleville
14	Maravia	47	211.50
15	Granger	165	799.00	J H Morse Misses Fannie Graves and Templeton	Granger
15	Macedonia	64	288.00	George E Critz	Granger
15	Yankee Branch	49	237.20	D G Booth	Granger
15	Lone Elm	75	350.72	Miss Sarah Laughlin	Granger
16	Puryear	58	261.94	Mrs V Avery	Gano
17	Eckman	48	261.77	J B Heanell	Beaukiss
18	Rices Crossing	82	369.00	Miss Lillian Webster	Rices Crossing
18	London	54	243.00	Miss Annie Lucas	Taylor
18	Coupland	26	183.50	John Goetz	Couplan
19	Rouund Rock	225	1097.36	J M Hale Miss S E McKinney Ethel Jones Lenora Hudson Mrs M E Cunningham	Round Rock
20	Stony Point	46	210.35	J A Hudson	Hutto
21	Stiles	43	193.50	Miss Florence Horn	Thorndale
21	Long Branch	70	335.35	G B Mays	Taylor
21	Turkey Creek	28	126.00
22	Allison	85	382.50	F M Johnson	Granger
23	Robertson	58	265.70	B G Lane	Georgetown
23	Bell	39	175.50	Miss Alice Love	Georgetown
24	Hopewell	61	274.50	Miss Lena Hickman	Liberty Hill
25	Bartlett	191	858.50	S E Gidney J B Phillbeck Miss Minnie Lee Charles Annie Roberts	Bartlett
26	Jonah	70	315.00	T E McDaniel	Jonah
26	Salyer	58	279.24	J M Patterson	Jonah
26	Prairie Springs	48	216.00	J S Dunn	Georgetown
27	Chalk Ridge	34	153.00	P P Smith	Corn Hill
28	Chandler Branch	16	71.00	Sallie Stubblefield	Georgetown
29	Cedar Valley	2	9.00
30	Pleasant Hill	57	256.50	W I Rowe	Leander
31	New Hope	24	108.80	G H Mays	Cedar Park
32	Conoway	56	282.00	A B Corder	Florence
32	Yarbrough	28	144.00	Miss Mary Corder	Florence
33	Georgetown	452	2089.65	F P Layerett Miss Julia Levernett Nellie Palm Kate Lavell Mamie Howrer Mrs M B Johnston	Georgetown
34	East View	36	162.00	C A Leverton	Georgetown
35	Cedar Point	24	108.20
35	Fisher	30	165.00	Thos Gullett	Georgetown
36	Union Chapel	22	99.00	Miss Iona Middleton	Leander
37	Beyersville	71	319.75	Miss Willie Marshall	Beyersville
38	Wilson Springs	55	237.50	Miss Laura Porter	Taylor
39	Tyler	78	351.00	Miss Ada Aldredge	Taylor
40	Huddleston	58	157.50	B H Lane	Georgetown
41	Palm Valley	53	180.21	Miss Sallie Stephens	Round Rock
42	Ranger Branch	62	279.00	T C Weir	Georgetown
43	Somerset	67	301.50	Geo W McKee	Circleville
44	Yakay	46	207.36	Miss Matilda Sayles	Taylor
45	Siloam	66	303.41	C A Lecroft	Beaukiss
45	Condron	23	90.45	R L Vance	Elgin
45	Pear Palley	31	141.50	W D Reeves	Couplan
46	Laneport	54	243.50	W R Parker	Laneport
47	Alligator	26	123.90	Miss Nellie Cates	Bartlett
47	Fowler	8	36.00	Miss Ida Wade	Bartlett
48	Lone Star	56	252.02	J A Brewster	Bartlett
49	Easley	63	303.50	Miss Lillian Griffin	Circleville
50	Burnap	33	148.50	Miss Annie Flinn	Hutto
51	Whittle & Harrel	42	189.65	Miss Mattie Chapman	Hutto
52	Walnut Spring	69	310.50	Miss Maggie Sillure	Rices Crossing
53	Mt Prospect	75	341.20	W A Barlow	Corn Hill
54	Gattis	34	153.00	Miss Effie Rowe	Round Rock
55	Shilo	84	423.45	W W Wilson	Beaukiss
56	Gordon	15	67.50

COLORED SCHOOLS
District	Name of School	No. Pupils	Amt for 1893-1894	Teachers	Post Office
1	Chapel Hill	20	90.00
2	Miller	55	250.70	W H Passon	Liberty Hill
3	Florence	14	63.00
4	Corn Hill	20	90.00
5	Damascus	49	220.50
6	Mt Pleasant	19	85.50
7	Kimbro Valley	28	248.32
8	Hopewell	154	693.00	J H Kerley	Round Rock
9	Walker	10	45.00
10	Rocky Hollow	24	113.00
11	St Paul	156	702.00	E W Clark L N Norris	Georgetown
12	Bailey	14	63.15
13	Jonas	9	40.50

Brands of Yesterday--Taylor, Texas

2009-12-31T07:51:00.000-08:00

So yesterday upon rising with dripping and stuffed-up sinuses, achy and feeling like I had been run over by a few Mac trucks in the middle of the night, I went back to bed. Thinking sleep would help some. But getting up a second time for the day, and still feeling like most of my life had been sucked out of me, I thought maybe just getting out for a bit would lite my energy valves. I decided to make a trip to the Taylor Texas Library, and this time I took my notes and what I was looking for.

A friend in Utah had asked me to look up some stuff on her Great Grandfather who had been in Williamson County, Texas. I had seen an article the first time I was at the library, and so I was on a search for the article to see if it was the SURNAMES she was looking for. My second goal of the day was to see if I could uncover the history of the 605 Washburn House that is listed as The Moore House in Taylor, Texas.

I found a few things. For my friend in Utah, I was not so lucky with her information. The Moore House, found a few things, mainly who was residing in the house in 1910. That is a big plus at least now I have a name to go by.

I thought I would share on this blog some of the things I found, hoping that maybe they will help someone else. The first thing I found, were some cattle and horse brands of the Taylor Folks. This is not all of them, but they are a start! The Jack Moore at the top is my Great Grandfather-I think!!! They owned a Cotton Plantation and came to the area early in the beginning of Williamson County. I need to do some additional research to document it, but that will come.

The list of SURNAMES is as follow:

Moore, McClaren, Maze, Barker, Young, Dyches, Garner, Elliott, Stanley, Jones, Smith, Stiles, Fowzer, Mackin, Pinchback, Springer, Rayburn, Thompson, Ziechang, Bland, Hardeman, Hargress, Burns, Doose, Brown, Word, Litton, Brean, Saunders

Are your ancestors here?

Here is a picture of the complete file: Located in a scrapbook in the Taylor, Texas Public Library, History Research Room, Taylor, Texas. 12/30/2009. This scrapbook has various clippings from the Taylor Press. The books are not numbered; there are just three of them in Brown Covers. The top of the article reads:

A few of the many cow and horse brands J. W Hardeman remembers when he rode the range from 1880-1900/

I photographed this with my digital camera, so sorry for the semi poor quality of it. I am working on perfecting this aspect of research! I figured at least we could read it, which is better than not having it at all!!!

Stay tuned for “Moore” Goodies I found in the library!!! (ha ha couldn’t resist) Oh and now I seen a new prescription when life sucks you dry, get up and go on a ancestor hunt!

The Dueling On The Stairs

2009-12-28T12:26:00.001-08:00

By LL Moore

In July 1977, my mom and I had one of our frequent infamous fights. Over what? Who knows, that part is long forgotten. But the words she said are not. She told me, “I will be so glad when you leave then all my problems will be solved.” That was a Friday. At work that night, my supervisor found me huddled in a corner crying. Partially through our conversation she gave me the name of her aunt and uncle and insisted I catch the first bus to Salt Lake City, UT on Monday morning. “At least then you will have a chance at life” she told me. That Monday I was boarding a Greyhound bus with $200 and two suitcases bound for Salt Lake City, UT. It was a journey that would help me begin to understand my past.

As a young girl in Texas, I had heard the countless stories of the family champions and heroes. In the short years I knew my grandmother Grace; I do not recall her ever mentioning any thing of her parents. It was a taboo subject us children were not allowed to inquire about and we didn’t. Later through my genealogical research, I learned it was a part of our family history that everyone would rather forget.

On a morning of August 1914, a mysterious man arrived in Brownsville, TX from Alice on the St. Louis, Brownsville & Mexico passenger train. According to T. J. Shanahan, the manager of what is referred to as the Valley Hotel on Levee Street, the man asked for recommendations of somewhere to eat. Mr. Shanahan directed him to a place down the street and the mysterious stranger returned later to the hotel and registered under the name of “Emmett Burgess”. In registering he smeared his place of residence as if to hide it. He asked Mr. Shanahan for some stationery and retreated to his room for the afternoon.

At approximately 4:45 that afternoon, Mr. Shanahan had been speaking with Mr. Burgess and then settled down to his desk to take on the day’s tasks. Mr. Burgess sat on the balcony at the top of the stairs. Upon hearing footsteps coming up the stairs, Emmett Burgess walked to the balcony overlooking the stairs and began to shoot at the two men. In a matter of minutes two men were dead and one wounded.

On Monday August 17, 1914 the Brownsville Herald Newspaper Extra headline read:

H. G. Dubose Assassinated

Shot down by G. J. Schoenbohm of Alice

An extra edition of the Brownsville Herald was produced on this day to cover the story that went around the nation. Stories also appeared in major newspapers across the country including Salt Lake City, UT, Oakland, CA and San Antonio, TX.

According to newspaper reports of The Brownsville Gazette, H. G Dubose, Chief of the US Immigration Office and his brother E. (Ed) M Dubose, US Customs Inspector, were responding to a note that came from a mysterious Emmett Burgess. Mr. Burgess claimed on the note that he had some information regarding a case that Ed Dubose was working on. Ed Dubose questioned folks around town, regarding “Emmett Burgess” but when no one knew or heard of him, he acquired the assistance of his brother H G Dubose, and came prepared for a possible ambush. Ed Dubose escaped with a wounded leg but was charged with killing of G. J. Schoenbohm. He was later acquitted. H. G. Dubose had four bullets in him, and was killed. G. J. Schoenbohm held 15 bullets in his bullet ridden body. Schoenbohm was also disguised with brown hair die on his hair and eyebrows, was wearing brown gloves, shaved his moustache and wore shaded glasses to complete his disguise. It was only through a letter on his personage and a casual friend he was able to be identified.

On Tuesday, August 18, 1914 the title read, Two Homes Mourn Fathers’ Loss. G. J. Schoenbohm was my great grandfather; his oldest daughter Grace, my grandmother. According to the 1910 census, Gerhard J. Schoenbohm was listed as a father and husband, living in Alice Texas, and married to Carrie. Together they had six children: Grace, Marguerite, Gerhard Jr., Lottie, Katherine and Johnny. Gerhard was born in Germany and was a rail road agent. From further research, I know he was born in Bremen, Germany, and came to the United States at 10 weeks old. He was 21 years old when he married my great grandmother, 17 year old Carrie Valls Linn. They were married for 18 years. In addition to his family duties, he served as an agent to the Texas-Mexican Railroad. Reportedly, he was well liked and well known along the rail route. His oldest daughter Grace was my grandmother.

The story and trial received much attention throughout Texas, Brownsville and the rest of the nation. It had every right so, the news was big. The speculation of the cause of the shooting was domestic troubles. Too often what we forget in a story like this is that while only three people were the main characters of the show, there were several more people affected in two families.

For the Schoenbohm family, the rumors affected them greatly. Monie (Marguerite) was the second oldest child and left in her autobiography incidents of the after math of the shooting. Prior to the killing, they lived on 25 acres of land, and their father had planned to send her and her older sister (my grandmother) to college in the fall. Instead after the shooting, Monie tells the story “My father was killed the summer after I graduated from high school. He had planned on sending my sister and I to the university that fall to further our education. His death put an end to this opportunity.”

Monie also stated in her autobiography, “The circumstances under which my father was killed left our family practically ostracized from the community. Our former friends treated us as though we had some kind of plague”. To deal with these problems, the family left Alice, and settled in Corpus Christi, Texas. Leaving Alice meant leaving their problems behind them. What should have been part of a family history is also part of the history of Brownsville as it was remembered in a chronology series of “Record of Valley History” in The Brownsville Gazette in 1942.

Monie talked lovingly of her father and grandmother, but her mother was a different story. She goes on to tell that her mother was very domineering, with a temper. “From my earliest recollections, I remembered quarrels and disagreements between my mother and grandma (Papa’s mother made her home with us.) These quarrels upset me greatly.” From the problems of the parents, it was passed along to Monie on how she saw herself and life. In later years she reported similar behavior to her parents in ways of marrying a man like her mother who was domineering, and then having an “…unfortunate love affair that practically ruined my later life.”

Monie reported in her autobiography. “Another thing that upset me was the feeling that I was not liked as much as my sisters and brother. Everything I did was criticized severely, even to my looks. My mother, in her fits of anger, would tell me I was ugly, stubborn, talked too much and went way out of my way to make trouble with my brother and sisters.”

From my father’s side of the family where this line comes, I have seen the repeated behaviors and can understand the feelings of Monie. My own father was shot in Corpus Christi, Texas and although reported in the Corpus Christi Caller Times as an “Investigator Shot On Way To Work” there was much speculation as to the story that was told to the public and the circumstances that led up to the shooting. Rumors, like his grandfather, my great-grandfather; there were domestic problems among other issues.

Like Monie, leaving home I thought would resolve the problems in my family, but they did not. The low self esteem and comparison to others were stung into me by my own mother. Her telling me to leave was dealing with her frustration and I believed forced me to take a different road than my family had. This different road has allowed me (I hope) to break the mold that surrounded our family’s past.

Through the years the genealogical research of my family has helped me to understand that our lives mimic that of our own families and ancestors. Whether it is the heroes or the characters, part of them will always be part of each of us in someway. Me leaving did not solve any of my family problems, just as my grandfather shooting down two men solved his. I believe we all have a “dueling” in our lives, just not always on the stairs.

Christmas Memories....

2009-12-17T20:14:00.000-08:00

It is a week before Christmas, and watching all the Christmas movies, have made me think a lot about the Christmas holidays. I think back to some of the memorable ones and not so much what I got for Christmas, but the events of the night before and then how those little silly things seemed to turn into a Christmas Tradition.

One of my earliest remembrances was of Christmas Eve in 1966. My mom and I started off the day by making Christmas Cookies. I don’t remember if the dough was made from scratch. Why do I say that? Because when we moved to Iowa and needed cookies for our class, my mom would simply go and buy the roll of cookies that you sliced and baked. Only we would never slice and bake them, we would roll out the sugar cookie dough and cut out pumpkins, or stockings, Christmas trees, Easter eggs, or what ever the holiday called for. (Side Note: I was 18 years old, and moved to Utah when I first learned that you could make your own cookie dough, and they did come from the rolls of cookie dough we bought in the store). So when I say I don’t remember how we made the dough that is why.

But I do remember cutting out all the different shapes of trees, bells, Santas, stockings etc. The next step was to bake them……BORING!!! Next was the frosting and decoration and that is when the fun started! There were bowls filled with different color frostings, and we would decorate all the cookies. When you have three little kids putting their creativity to work, there were some awesome creations made. I also remember not having all the cool sprinkles and candies we have today, but there were the silver bead that were cool but so hard to eat, so most of the decorations did end up on the cookies and not in our tummies. The frosting, now that was probably a different story.

The next step was to prepare cookie plates, and then we would take them to neighbors and friends to wish them a Merry Christmas. This would take the good part of the day on Christmas Eve. Next came dinner, hotdogs. Yep, plain ole hotdogs. I remember my mom telling us to hurry and eat so we could get to bed or Santa would not come. So of course we snarfed them down. Now you are saying what is so memorable about this Laura? Did I fail to tell you that we were in bed by 6 pm on Christmas Eve? Well for me it was a tad bit later, because of all the cookies and eating the hotdogs so fast, got sick. But somehow I managed to sleep a few hours before Santa came.

Yes I did say a few hours. Christmas morning we were up at 1 a.m. peeking under the tree to see what Santa brought us. Now I now what you are all saying, “If my kids did that they wouldn’t see another Christmas”, or some threat like that. Well parents may threaten us a lot, but we lived to talk about it. And it happened for many many years. An hour after getting up and scoping out the loot, all our toys were packed and loaded in the Rambler Station Wagon and off we’d go to Granny and Poppy’s house. It was always quite funny, looking back on it now, we could only take ONE PRESENT, but of course we never did. Kids have a way of being able to condense their loot. Santa seemed a bit off that night though, because my baby buggy fell apart shortly after rolling it around at Granny’s house. I was told I made a comment on how Santa didn’t do a very good job on my baby buggy!

Besides the baby buggy and probably a doll, I don’t remember what I really got that year for Christmas……oh wait MEMORY ALERT! MEMORY ALERT! Part of my presents were socks, underwear and Santa puzzles. A fun gift from Santa huh? And how could I possibly remember something like this? My neighbor Headabell (who I so loved) brought me a toy stove that belonged to her when she was little. She was a high school student and was like a big sister to me. With this stove, you could plug it in and the oven really worked. Because of all the festivities of Christmas Eve, I had not had a chance to try out my new oven. It was Christmas night, and after returning home from Granny and Poppy’s, we were sitting in the kitchen chatting with some friends of my parents. All of a sudden SMOKE! We smelled smoke!!! Checking the burners on the stove nothing in the kitchen was cooking, so we began to follow the smell. Right to my room! Up till then I has not realized my brothers had mysteriously had disappeared and then all of a sudden reappeared snickering. Opening the door to my room, was smoke pouring from my new oven. Well the oven worked! Then my Dad did the unthinkable. He not only unplugged the stove, he cut the plug. Just snipped it off. I cried, I was a little girl and I was allowed the tears. Opening the oven we found charred remains of the Santa puzzle, underwear and socks. My dad was mad, and rightly so. I cried, some more. My brothers snickered some more. And my precious oven I never even got to use, but the memory of the oven lives on in my heart.

But through it all you know what lasted forever? Every Christmas morning we were up at 1 a.m. Christmas morning peeking under the tree. Even in high school. One year we were up and my mom yelling at us to go back to bed. Again we were in high school. Then the phone rang, it was Grandma. “Where are you guys she asked?” “Are you opening presents yet?” So that morning before any presents could be opened we had to get Grandma and give her an official escort to our house. In the early hours of Christmas morning, we got Grandma, loaded her and the presents in the car and headed back to our house to She was calling to ask where we were. She thought we would be up by now opening presents. So that morning Grandma had an official escort to our house. We laughed, because on our way out of her apartment building, someone else was coming to get their Grandma, and told us “I see you are getting an official escort too.”

It’s funny thinking back to the memories, how again it was not what was under the tree as it was the events that led up to the day. In my later years, with no family to spend Christmas with, I relied very heavily on friends. And each Christmas I hoped that somewhere I would be invited for Christmas. Many times I was. One year though, I spent Christmas with a family, where we thought it would probably be my friend’s last Christmas. I had watched the family struggle for the few years I knew them, and decided that year they were going to have a good Christmas. I had the means to do so, and it was something I wanted to do. I bought the tree, dinner and presents for all of the family including the grandkids. Yep I was invited that Christmas, and under the tree for me was an ice scraper for my car and a chocolate orange. I was a bit surprised and I admit disappointed, but gulped it down and accepted the gift. My friend told me she was sorry she could not do more, she just did not have the money that year. I accepted that. When it was all done and over, I added up the damage, and let’s just say it was not cheap. There were 13 children and 9 adults with all the trimmings. I was glad to be able to do it. Shortly afterwards, it seemed as though I was no longer part of the family. It made me sad, as I was told my friend only wanted to be around family. I was not included.

When Christmas came the next year, I looked at my budget, and decided Christmases were going to be different. I buy very few presents any more, and try to focus on making my gifts. Each Christmas there is a touch of “Laura Love” with the gifts I give.

One of the things I love to do is to tell a story as you can see. Telling a story, usually involves making a book or writing somewhere or somehow. So often times somehow my presents involves books. One Christmas I made a cookbook. I have created Family Histories for my aunts and cousins, a photo book for a teenager, and one day will have my children’s story and my own book published.

What I learned about giving at Christmas, is most of the time it is not the gift that will be remembered but the antics that have led up to it, the story behind it, that is what makes Christmas memorable. The tradition that was spoken of earlier, of getting up at 1 a.m. Christmas morning, it may be a bit strange in most eyes, but for us that was our “tradition”. It was the joke at our house. Up at 1 a.m., dinner at 10 a.m. and we were snoozing by 1 p.m. in the afternoon. A full day like everyone else, just at different times of the day.

You are probably asking what has this got to do with Texas History? It is important to remember that each name of your ancestors that is found on a census, or vital record, or where ever you find them, they were a real person. They laughed, and joked, and had special times in their lives as we do. I am hoping that 100 years from now if a descendant goes poking around for history on me or my ancestors, they will be able to get a glimpse into my life and how our family celebrated Christmas. Thee were many more memories that stand out, but definitely getting up at 1 a.m. was tops.

So now that I have let you in on one of my Christmas memories, please share one of yours. So what is your favorite memory of Christmas? Do you have a favorite tradition? A memorable Christmas? A secret project that went off without a hitch? Or one that completely flopped? Please do tell and share!

Merry Christmas Everyone!!!

LL Moore

Visiting Your Ancestor’s Town; What You May Discover

2009-12-04T16:40:00.000-08:00

When the time comes and you have the chance to walk the ground where your ancestors walked, there are many emotions and thoughts that go through your mind. In coming, to Texas, I was here less than 24 hours when I traveled to Taylor, Texas to see where my grandfather was born, and where my ancestors lived their lives. Now most normal people would have gotten a map of the town and scouted out where they were going. Not me. After getting the general directions of how to get to Taylor, I was on my way. Seeing the sign of the Taylor City Limits and population my first thought was, I wonder what my grandparents would think of a town the size of 13,000 plus? I didn’t know where I was going or how to get to the old part of Taylor, but I kept driving, and as I entered the town all I could do was talk to myself, “I am really here.” The pictures I had seen of early years were nothing like it was today. It made me wondered what my ancestors thought of today’s technology advancements. Of cars being the main form of transportation rather than horse and buggies? What about the cotton industry? It seems no longer the thriving industry it once was. So much had changed since they were there over 100 years ago.

I didn’t know what to expect entering town, except this was not it. Taylor was once a thriving town and hubbub of Williamson County, but I did not get that feeling driving through town this day. It seemed in many ways it was a town forgotten. Driving into town, there were few businesses. One I chuckled at was a business that had water and jugs. There has got to be a story there! Then there is the chicken place, a couple gas stations, and a hotel until you reach the stop light at the end of the street. Not knowing which way to turn, I took the easy way out and turned right. Not knowing the town and looking somewhat deserted, I found a spot to make a U-turn and went the opposite direction. Ahhhhh, here is the town. It looked nothing like pictures I had seen from a website on the history of Taylor. I guess it could have been some of the same buildings, but no longer the same businesses, but the buildings were somewhat old.

Making my way down Main Street, the street signs on the left began to catch my attention. There was a 3rd Street, 4th Street, 5th Street, and then it dawned on me! Prior to coming to Texas, I had found a house For Sale in Taylor and had Googled it. I was curious as to where the house was compared to where my grandfather and his family had lived in the 1910 Census, which was somewhere on Howard Street. In looking at the map I Howard Street was only a couple of blocks from where the house was for sale, and I had to find 6th Street to find the other two points I knew in Taylor.

Going up 6th Street, I knew I was in the right area when I saw Murphy Park. Driving along and reading street names, I slammed on my brakes suddenly. There on the street sign it said, “DOAK” Street.

In my research, I had learned there was a Dr. A. V Doak who was a very prominent citizen in Taylor and also the first doctor of Taylor. From what I was told, Dr. Doak delivered my grandfather and so therefore, my grandfather Vernon Doak Moore was named after the doctor who delivered him, Dr. A. V. Doak. Now how many people can go through the town where their ancestors were and find a street name with their name on it? Okay, I guess a lot of us can and it is too dang cool!!!! Going a little further I found Howard Street, and that is where the eyes started to fill with tears. I did not know if I would find anything as spectacular as I had just found with DOAK Street, but I cruised down Howard Street. You could tell it was an older section of town because of the old beautiful Victorian homes. All I could think of is I wonder which one was theirs?

Since that initial trip to Taylor, I have returned several times and traveled down Howard Street. According to the census I believe their address was 494 Howard Street, that address no long exists. It will take more research of City directories, and county records, to see where they actually lived. And I still believe that in time, pictures will turn up of my Moore Family and others from Taylor, Williamson County, Texas. For now until those pictures appear and find their way to me, I will share with you some pictures I have taken in Taylor, Texas.

I might add I have the luxury of visiting Taylor whenever I feel the need to, but often times we o not have that luxury. If you are making plans on visiting the area where your ancestors once walked and lived, have a game plan. Here is what I would do, next time I go to check out my ancestor’s town.

1) Check the census of when they lived in the area, and see if you can find a street name of where they lived. Google the street name and see if it is still in the town.
2) Make a visit to the public library and see what kind of archives and history is available for your town. When I visited, there were town census, and microfilm copies of the newspaper.
3) In addition to the public library of your town, check out the libraries in other cities and town in the county. Here in Williamson County, the main Genealogical records at kept at the Round Rock library. However, visiting the Georgetown library, I found a very knowledgeable county historian.
4) Is there a History Museum for the town or county? Most have them and may have some beneficial information for you. Talk to someone there, and find out about the history, town and county advancements etc.
5) Is there a Genealogical Society for the area? One thing the genealogical society is doing for Williamson County, TX is putting all the cemetery records in FindAGrave with directions and GPS markings to help researchers in their search for ancestor’s graves. Contact the Genealogical Society and see if they can offer any hints or ideas that will help enhance your research and trip.
6) Find out in advance where to locate any county records you may be in search of. Are you looking for land records? Vital records? Court records? In Williamson County, TX they are all located in one area. This is a trip of a life time, treat it as such. Do your research and plan it out to make the most of your trip.
7) Connect with local genealogists or historians in the area that have the inside track of where to find records, and maybe take in some sight seeing on the side A good way to do this is the county boards on Ancestry.com or again finding a local genealogical society.
8) Make a checklist. Places to go, records you are looking for and most importantly, your CAMERA! Record and document not only your trip, but also the records you are gathering. If you have never taken classes on how to use your camera for genealogy I highly recommend a class.

Okay here are some pictures for your viewing pleasure. These were taken in Granger, Texas, which is where my ancestors lived as well. Loved this town, not much there, but some of the old buildings are still standing! And do you know what a "Washateria" is?

A New Beginning.....

2009-12-01T18:56:00.000-08:00

Greetings Fellow Moore Researchers:

It’s been along time, and first of all apologize for the delay in posting to this blog. I have put myself in "Time Out" long enough, and have recommitted myself to share and uncover my MOORE History. There has been a major change in my life since the last posting I would like to share with all of you.

In April of 2009 I got the news I was being laid off from my job. It sucks to be laid off, but to be laid off from a job I loved was really hard. Putting my heart and soul into another office job just wasn’t happening. In about July, I thought long and hard and decided I needed a change. So in October, I sold everything, packed up my Chevy Blazer and moved to Williamson County, Texas for the simple reason to find my MOORE’s. To say it has been a journey is an understatement, but oh what a journey it has been. I really thought coming back to Texas, I would have an instant “family”, something I have not had since I was a child. Even though I have seen some family members, I have not seen in over 40 years, it was not the instant family I thought it would be. I must admit at first it upset me, but then thanks to my friends (the whole blood related thing is way over rated anyway!) they reminded me I am new to them and we all need time to get used to one another and to get used to the idea, and understand our “family” has grown.

This especially was hard, because it was the beginning of the holidays, which means my birthday, and the flood of painful memories that come back from Thanksgiving of 1965. That was the last our entire family was together and when everything erupted with my parent’s marriage. As I have said before, “Life is a Journey” and it has been quite a journey for me.

So that brings me till today, Tuesday December 1, 2009. I visited the Georgetown, TX library and visited with a nice gentleman (yes they have many of them here in Texas) by the name of Ralph Dixon Love. In doing research of Williamson County I had come across the Georgetown Library and that Mr. Love was the local county historian for Williamson County. It was a privilege and honor to talk to him today.

The first question he asked is, “What surname are you researching”. That is a loaded question for me. I have more than one family from Williamson County. I replied instantly with MOORE, and Mr. Love confirmed the spelling and let me tell my story. He laughed when I told him I didn’t have “skeleton’s” in the closet, but I had “characters” instead. When I mentioned the name of FOREHAND his mouth dropped so much that I stopped in the middle of my sentence and looked at him and said, “We are related aren’t we?” He nodded his head up and down and began to pull books off the shelves. So much of our discussion was on the FOREHAND family and how Richard FOREHAND came into my line, the will, probate, etc. His response, was he had never heard of this line before. That didn’t surprise me, it seems most haven’t. He continued on to tell me how I was kin to so many different prominent families that had come into the county very early. There are still mysteries of my FOREHAND line like where is Richard Neeley FOREHAND buried, but it was a good chat and fun to hear some of the stories of days gone by.

Mr. Love was instrumental in helping me understand what records are available and people to talk to in the county. When I came to Williamson County, I just thought I would find all these undiscovered records and be happily a couple more generations back. But things don’t work that way, only in our dreams! One idea I did have was to run a search for all the FOREHANDS and MOORES in Taylor, TX and then send a letter to each one of them. In doing this, I found about 43 MOORE and FOREHAND’s in the Taylor area. When I mentioned this to Mr. Love, he told me about a paper I had not uncovered yet and suggested I write to the paper instead. That paper is The Williamson County Sun and covers all of Williamson County, Texas. So, my next step is to look at a paper called the Williamson County Sun and also write to the paper with my request of seeking MOORE and FOREHAND’s in the area. I know what you all are asking, “How can I do this for my family?” Since here this is a paper that covers the entire county, you may not be as lucky but it is still doable. It is important to check your local library, find that historian of your county and find out what is available in your area.
If you prefer the “send a letter” method the best way to start is going to www.whitepages.com.
Leave the FIRST NAME field blank and enter the surname you are searching for in LAST NAME field.
Enter the city you are searching-See Below
If there ARE results for that city/town you will see a listing just for that city.
If there ARE NO results for that city, you will receive results for nearby town/city-See Below
Then just print off the list and off you go!

I would do a basic generic letter, explaining your search and do a mass mailing. Technology, I LOVE IT!

However if you are lucky enough to find a county newspaper, then simply write to the paper with the information you are requesting. Always remember to leave your email address when writing. Who knows what will show up in your snail mail or email box. There is your genealogy lesson for the day!

Now back to Mr. Love. After our discussion of Williamson County Families, records and who had the knowledge, I asked him if I could share my family history I wrote. My spiral bound history goes with me everywhere where genealogy research is involved. It is like my security blanket, a reminder of how far I have come in my search and the motivation to continue to move forward. One of the first things Mr. Love noticed was my grandfather’s name, Vernon Doak MOORE. He asked me, “Are you related to the DOAK Family too?” I explained to him, that my grandfather was delivered by Dr. Doak (the first doctor in Taylor), and he was named after Dr. Doak. He turned to me and said, I have only seen that name once and that was with my Uncle’s name. I asked if he was delivered by Dr. Doak, and Mr. Love chuckled and said yes he was! Wouldn’t it be interesting to see how many folks there are with the name of “Doak” as a middle name? This could make for an interesting research project.

One of the pages I did was a tribute to my two aunts entitled “My Sister, My Friend”. It caught his attention and commented, “That truly is a sisterly love.” I explained the story of the Chicken and Dumplings and Frisky, the last time we were all together, the “Bring Your Own Hat Reunion Photo” and it went on. Near the back is a section on my Great Great Grandmother, Carrie Schoenbohm. When he saw her picture, he said, “Wow, is she beautiful! All you women are so beautiful, you can tell where you got your looks from.” Okay, this left me a bit speechless. Beautiful? Never been told that before, I could only squeak a meager thank you. As we ended our trip through the MOORE-SCHOENBOHM History, he told me, “I want you to know I feel we have been very blessed to have you come to our county. You are very knowledgeable and have such a great passion and love for your history. But more than that, you have such a gift in being able to tell a story as you have. You have had me captivated this whole time (we talked about four hours) and I feel like I am part of your family. Plus the way you have created your history and the way you presented it to me, I have Goosebumps. This is what you are meant to do.”

Today, early I was frustrated. Tonight, I am a new me. I left with determination, hope and a “Look Out World Here I Come” feeling. I expressed to Mr. Love, one of my goals with genealogy is to bring it together as a family affair because there are many ways to involve family members I will share in a later blog. But more than that is I have discovered in my own family history, cycles that are repeated from generation to generation. I believe a lot of times, we see traits repeat because we are not familiar with our history. By learning about our history, we can break some of these bad cycles that create our characters in the closet.

Vernon and Grace

2009-02-13T12:38:00.000-08:00

In The Beginning....The Brickwalls

2009-02-11T18:46:00.001-08:00

For over 30 years I have searched the Moore Family History. In the beginning I had one name, Vernon Doak Moore Sr., my grandfather. As a little girl, I was told that the Moore History ran deep in the heart of Texas. There were great-cousins in the Alamo, Moore’s that helped settle Texas, and even a county named after an ancestor. As I began my journey I came to my first road block, the 1880 census did not have my grandfather’s information (I would later learn he was born in 1884) and without that information I could not search further until the 1900 census was released. When that census was released I did find him, with his brothers and sister living with their Grandparents. Next came finding a probate and the real dead end hit. No Minverva Forehand that would link them with the Moore’s. What should have been a matter of following a path became a sequence of frustrations. I would dig out the history and then put it away when I couldn’t get past that hurdle of finding My Great-Grandparents.

In 2008 I began to think outside the box and started to search for my Grandfather’s siblings, it was there the roads were open and I began to find the Moore History. I found the path by searching for my Grandfather’s Sister, Ellen Moore Erving and found her living with a brother in South Dakota. I realized this was not going to be an easy task, but as I have journeyed along I have had many smiles creep across my face. Thanks to my cousin Verne and his Father Ed, who supplied many pictures and documents that were crucial to my research.

This history is the documentation and information I have gathered along the way. It is meant to continuously be added to. To the generations to come, it is my hope they add their family branch. To generations that are past and found, it is my hope they may be added to this history. To the stories that are told here, it is my hope that all may descend from this line may grow a greater knowledge of where they came from and a great love for those who came before us.

One of my greatest finds (for me) was seeing the picture of my Great Grandmother Carrie Valls Schoenbohm – she no longer was just a name on a piece of paper but a “real person”.

I know there is much to be added to in this incredible story of our ancestors. It is my hope that others will gain an interest in our heritage, dig out the old photos, stories and documents, and add to this! In time a hard bound book will be produced for many generations to come.