Breaking through Brick walls Part 1: Descendancy Research

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.

Brands of Yesterday--Taylor, Texas

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!

Visiting Your Ancestor’s Town; What You May Discover

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?