Thank you so much, Cheri! When I read your comments, I experienced a most warm feeling wash over my entire body! Very humbling, indeed. I've read some of the comments previous recipiants have made, and both humbled and honored DO fit the bill!
The award comes with the requirement that you pay it forward in two ways. The instructions are listed below:
1. List ten things that you have learned about your ancestors that surprised, humbled, or enlightened you.
2. Pass the award to ten other genealogy bloggers.
The ten things I've learned about my ancestors shouldn't be too difficult (I hope). The ten other genealogy bloggers to pass this fabulous award on to should prove to be more of a challenge. I will do my best!
1. My paternal great-grandmothers died within a day of each other: October 30, 1938 and October 31, 1938.
2. My paternal great-grandmother, Jennie Meeks Johnston, mother of my dad's mom, lost one of her daughters and three of four grandchildren in a house fire in March 1934. Jennie and her other granddaughter, an infant, were saved by neighbors. This took its toll on my Great-grandma mentally and she was never the same again.
3. My paternal great-grandmother, Naomi Hensley Logan, mother of my dad's dad, was born about five months after her father died of typhoid fever in 1859. She never got to know her dad! She was the youngest of 10 children.
4. This same great-grandmother told my dad the story of her mother, Matilda Tharp Hensley, taking her to Indianapolis in the Spring of 1865 to see the train bearing the remains of Abraham Lincoln home to Springfield, Illinois.
5. My ancestors were very patriotic, many of them having served in the Revolutionary War, the War of 1812, the Mexican War, the Civil War, the Spanish American War, and World Wars 1 and 2. I'm proud of all of them! I joined the DAR under Richardson Hensley's service during the Revolutionary War. There are several other ancestors that I could also have used, but Dad was particularly keen on Richardson. His son, also Richardson Hensley, served in the War of 1812.
6. My maternal great-grandfather, Adam Finley "Fin" Aultz, was an accomplished musician. He played in a local band in the late 1800s, played several different instruments. That was when people got out to socialize in the parks, listen to music, & be with family and friends. No movie houses, radios, televisions, or video games then! Wish I'd gotten some of his talent!
7. Hensley Township, Johnson County, Indiana is name for Richardson Hensley (the veteran of the War of 1812), the first settler of that area.
8. Jennie Meeks Johnston had a very rough life. I feel such pity and sympathy for her. Her parents separated when she was about 14 or so. Instead of going to an orphanage, she married an older man, my great-grandpa, Holman Johnston. He was about 29 years old, she about 16 when they married. Between 1897 and 1910, she was "in the family way" seven times, losing two of the children either at birth or in infancy. They divorced, and she remarried by 1920. She had the two youngest with her in the 1920 census. The older girls were "farmed out" as grandma put it, to families that could afford to raise them. These were, I suppose, like foster families. It must have been terrible to not be able to provide for your own children!
9. I'm still working on my "brick wall" ancestor, John Logan. The family Bible stated he was born in Ireland 26 September 1801. Why couldn't he have listed the town??? We had my dad's yDNA tested, which follows the paternal line, finding we are cousins to General John A. Logan from Illinois of Civil War fame. My brother looked an awfully lot like him!
10. Family lore had it that Jennie Meeks' grandmother was an Indian (Native American for the politically correct out there). Thanks to a distant cousin, I found that Jennie's grandma was German/Irish or Scots! No Indian blood, which was corroborated with the mtDNA test Dad had done. Dad still doesn't believe me, and my second cousin in one of the Carolinas doesn't either. She had always heard the same stories of the Indian named Storms. Well, her name was Storms, but that was her last name, her first being Talitha (Aramaic for "little girl"). Her dad was Peter Storm, her mother was Sarah (Sallie) Haynes or Hayes. Peter Storm was of German descent, Sallie probably Scots/Irish. Talitha's husband, Abram/Abraham Knapp, could be the one with Indian blood. He's also a brick wall, born in Pennsylvania between 1834-1838, living with the Nelson Jewett/Jewitt family in Indiana in the 1850 Census. Abram was listed as 12 years old and his last name was spelled Napp. Either he was an orphan, was "farmed out," or living with relatives. One of these days...
I'll have to cogitate some on the ten recipiants...don't know that many genealogy bloggers yet. Will have to get back to you!
Thanks again Cheri!
XoXoXo
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