Month: April 2018

Week 15 – 52 Ancestor Challenge – Taxes

“‘Tis impossible to be sure of any thing but Death and Taxes,”

The Cobbler of Preston by Christopher Bullock (1716)

I’ll admit that when it comes to using tax records for genealogy research well, I never have.  I know they are there, I know they can be a great source, I forget they are there.  Maybe it’s a mental block considering what I do for  living.  In case you don’t know, I prepare income tax returns for a living.

Don’t get me wrong, when I do happen to take a look at some of these records, they’re pretty interesting –

David Blackman was assessed $2 tax on a gold watch and carriage, Georgia, 1865

Goodridge Driver, Whiskey Distiller, 15 Gallons of Whiskey valued $30.42 tax, Georgia 1866

The problem I have with taxes is that I rarely find my family in these records.  I’m assuming they paid their taxes, man I hope so, I don’t want to try to untangle a mess that old, they just don’t often appear in my searches through these records.

I’ve kept every tax return I have ever filed – including property tax records, I wonder if someday another researcher will be glad that I’ve done that or if they’ll just think I was a hoarder?

#52ancestors

Whispers from the Past…..

Week 14 – 52 Ancestor Challenge – The Maiden Aunt or Bachelor Uncle

Uncle Albert by Lu’s fig bush at Bunger, Texas

Albert Ichabod Driver, Uncle Albert, died in 1951, 11 years before I was born.  While I never knew him, I’ve heard about him all my life.

Albert was the oldest son of John and Weltha Driver, born in 1871, he was only two years old when his family left the Nacogdoches, Texas area and headed West.  In 1874, the little family settled in Parker County near the town of Weatherford, where Albert’s younger brother, Henry, was born, near Long Creek.  In 1875, the family moved again, this time to the little town of Graham, where they would spend the rest of their lives.

Etta Cunningham

As a young man, Albert was engaged to a girl named Etta Cunningham.  Albert suffered from asthma and fearing he’d be a burden to her, he eventually broke their engagement.  His brother, Henry, went with her for a while but he met Louise Smith while visiting their Mother’s family in the Coleman area and married her.

In the early 1930s, oil was discovered on the family’s land, a few miles South of Graham.  Albert’s mother, Weltha, was a frugal woman, the family had lived through lean times and she believed in patching the patches on her clothes to make them last longer.  I’ve often wondered if this was because of an incident where a cow ate her new dress on their journey West…..  Albert and his sister-in-law, Louise, would do the laundry and would “hang Weltha’s worn out dress up in the ringer” then they would pull back and forth until the dress was beyond repair.  This was force Weltha to start wearing a new dress instead of “saving it.”

Albert never married and spent a good deal of his life farming with and looking after his parents.  He cared for them until their deaths.  Anytime I’ve heard relatives speak of Uncle Albert, the fondness is apparent in their voice.  His appearance was kindly and warm.  Many times I have thought about how his life might have been different if he would have had access to the modern miracle of rescue inhalers.

#52ancestors

Whispers from the Past…..

Week 17 – 52 Ancestor Challenge – Cemetery – Heath Springs, South Carolina

I’ve always loved cemeteries.  A fun outing for me is prowling around in a graveyard, hunting dead relatives.  I’ve also always had a type of “sixth-sense” as to where to find a certain grave.  I believe they call to me, wanting to be found.

Jerrell Blackmon at the graves of his 4th Great-grandfathers, William Fleming Bailey and Thomas Cauthen

About six years ago, I discovered that my husband had Revolutionary ancestors who were buried in a quaint little village in South Carolina.  At the time of the discovery, I was able to locate the cemetery online and to find some information about the aforementioned ancestors but, there wasn’t a lot to go on.

While making our way home from a business meeting, we made a detour and visited Salem Cemetery and the graves of two of his fourth-great-grandfather’s, William Fleming Bailey and Thomas Cauthen.  Both men fought in the Revolution and are believed to have been involved at the nearby Battle of Hanging Rock.

Cauthen Brothers

A dedication ceremony had been held in May 1976 for the Revolutionary Patriots of Lancaster County and the Cauthen memorial monument was erected by the Waxhaw chapter of the DAR in honor of the Cauthen patriots, Thomas and his brothers, James and William, who died in Lancaster County.  The address for the service was delivered by the Reverend Baker James Cauthen, a direct descendant of William Cauthen.

William Fleming Bailey

Also William Fleming Bailey is honored at this same site.  Bailey, was the father of Nancy Agnes Bailey, who married George Washington Cauthen, son of the aforementioned Thomas Cauthen.

It was a memorable occasion to visit the final resting places of these Revolutionary soldiers and to commemorate the day with a photograph of my husband with his hand resting on their monuments.

 

#52ancestors

Whispers from the Past…..