Tag: #genealogy

Genealogy

Ready to Dive Back In

Becky

For the first time in months I sat down this morning and worked on my genealogy. For the last 2.5 years I worked with an investigative company completing military repatriation cases. And as much as I enjoyed finding the relatives for those MIA/KIA World War II soldiers, it made me feel more and more guilty whenever I took a moment to work on my own family history.

So I called it quits.

Genealogy was a hobby that I so enjoyed. It wasn’t just finding out the stories of my ancestors, but it was meeting cousins along the way, because often they were like me, searching for their own roots, so it was a win-win, I found people like me!

Sadly, today had me begin adding the death certificate information into my program for my sister, Kellie, who passed away on June 25. I’m sure I’ll delve into that whole thing in the coming months. It could be therapeutic for me. I know she is at peace, but she brought a lot of her issues onto herself, and that’s the challenging part for me as the surviving sibling. It’s where the anger comes in.

Looking forward to getting back to work on my favorite hobby and sharing my relatives and their stories with you. Thank you for your patience during my downtime.

Maternal Side, My Family Tree

Catching Up on Some Chronicles

Becky

I should be posting Chronicles on social media using prompts about my family. But sometimes you get stuck and then you fall behind, which is where I am at presently. So I have decided to post them here from now on and should I stay on schedule, I’ll post them on Instagram as well.

Here is a prompt from March – it’s the day in the life of an ancestor, I’ve opted to write about my 2nd-great-grandfather, Arthur Dunbar.

Arthur Dunbar

Today I’m discussing the day in the life of an ancestor. According to the 1900 and 1910 Federal Census, Arthur J. Dunbar, my 2nd-great-grandfather on my mom’s maternal side, was a farmer. In the 1910 Census, it specified his farm as a “general farm”.  Until I can find a copy of the Agricultural Schedule to determine exactly what his farm had, I’m going to assume a general farm is your basic farm – with vegetables and animals. 

As I decided to dig deeper into the best crops for Potter County, PA I learned that most farms were best suited for dairy and poultry farms and potatoes! (No one loves potatoes more than me). Farming back in the early 1900’s was hard work (it’s hard today) but you didn’t have tractors or mechanical tools at this time to make life a little easier.  You got up early in the morning and would plow the land using your own strength or that of animals (most likely a horse or a mule). You worked hard all day, from sun up to sun down, ending the day by eating dinner with your family and going to bed early so you could get up and do it all again the next day.  Arthur was the father of 3 girls, so it’s not likely that they were able to help out as much as he may have liked. 

This is a photo of the 40 acres that my dad now owns in Woodsfield, Ohio (it was originally owned by my grandfather, Leroy Blair)

Arthur died at the age of 43 of polio.