Posted: January 2nd, 2009 | Author: Mark | Filed under: Genealogy, Ohio | Tags: goldie, parker | No Comments »
Fragments of family history can be gathered from a number of sources, but one can’t underestimate the value of word-of-mouth. Anecdotes handed down through the generations can be informative, inspiring, even humorous, and contain data that would otherwise be forgotten.
My aunt Dorothy Jean Murray is the “go-to person” when researching the Stevens’ family in Ohio, and she mentioned something recently that I thought was rather amazing. Almost as an afterthought, D.J. mentioned that a bit of confusion accompanied my grandmother’s birth. It seems that my grandmother, born Goldie Irene Parker (shown here with my father, Doug Stevens), had the wrong name put on her birth certificate. That’s right, the story goes that her birth certificate read Madge Parker. I don’t have to tell anyone with genealogical experience that records are often peppered with errors, but this is major. What prompted the mistake, and how was it resolved? It’s thought to have been some sort of clerical error, but that is, I believe, supposition. Over one-hundred years has passed, and the details of these events were not preserved with any clarity. I would think that the name would have been promptly corrected, but that didn’t stop me from searching for public records pertaining to Madge Parker. While I was unable to turn up anything, I can’t help but to wonder if a copy of that birth certificate exists somewhere. Who knows, Dorothy Jean might come through again.
Posted: December 12th, 2008 | Author: Mark | Filed under: Genealogy, Ohio | Tags: goldie, mcmurray, parker | No Comments »
I can’t believe it. I didn’t think that any photographs of my great-grandparents (Goldie’s parents) existed, but then these two, over 140 years old, turn up courtesy of my aunt Dorothy Jean. The photos, studio portraits of Henry Graham Parker and Emily Robinson McMurray, are said to have been taken around the time of their wedding. Having decided to wed prior to Henry leaving to serve in the civil war, they were married immediately upon his return, on August 25, 1865.
These photos add nothing to the nuts-and-bolts of the family tree, but there’s an undeniable significance to connecting a face with a name. It makes the people come alive. Remember my earlier post about the father learning of his daughter’s death from a Ouija board? This is that man, Henry Graham Parker.
One bothersome aspect of the photos are the dates notated on the back, indicating their date of marriage as August 25, 1865. This contrasts to the data contained in the family outline, which gave the date as October 25 of the same year. That’s something I’ll need to quiz Dorothy Jean about. For now I’m still having trouble getting very far beyond Henry Parker on the family tree, and the marriage date doesn’t provide any clues regardless the date used. Read the rest of this entry »
Posted: November 26th, 2008 | Author: Mark | Filed under: Genealogy, Ohio, Tiptonville, Tennessee | Tags: caldwell, hopson, parker, stevens | No Comments »
It dawned on me recently that many people find this site while looking for relatives, and I haven’t made things easy for them. If someone arrives here after having Googled “stevens genealogy”, or “caldwell family”, they’ll find a frustrating lack of organization. But I must say that I prefer a more casual, “organic” layout, and find that excessive structure only serves to infuse the subject with banality, and genealogy needn’t be boring.
In order to clarify my family tree a little, here’s a quick-and-dirty outline of the family: I’m Mark Stevens, born in 1957. My father was Homer Douglas Stevens (”Doug” 1915-2007), and his father was Homer Stevens (1888-1961). Homer’s father was Albert Stevens (1852- ?). Albert’s father isn’t known, although there was a John J. Stevens that’s a possibility. All the Stevens mentioned here lived in Ohio, primarily in Guernsey County. My grandmother was born Goldie Irene Parker (1888-1979), and her father was Henry G. Parker (1840-1914). Her mother was Emily R. McMurray (1846-1930). Read the rest of this entry »
Posted: October 26th, 2008 | Author: Mark | Filed under: Genealogy, Tiptonville, Tennessee | Tags: caldwell, parker | No Comments »
Boy, I didn’t see this coming: I’ve learned that my great, great grandfather, William P. Caldwell, was a member of the United States House of Representatives. My knowledge of mom’s family, limited as it was, had told me only of their farming background, so this came as quite a surprise. And when I learned that my great grandfather Fred J. Caldwell (William P.’s son) was also an attorney, it’s become clear that agriculture hadn’t always been the predominant family business. So who exactly was my great, great grandfather?
William Parker Caldwell was born on November 8, 1832 in Christmasville, Tennessee. After having practiced law in Dresden and Union City, he represented the state’s 9th congressional district from March 4, 1875 to March 3, 1879. He later practiced law in Gardner, Tennessee and served in the Tennessee Senate from 1891 to 1893. He died in Gardner on June 7, 1903.
I’ve been unable to find any details concerning his career, but did learn that two of his sons, Fred J. (my great grandfather) and John A. Caldwell, followed in his footsteps by also practicing law. Another son, Luther W. Caldwell, became a physician practicing in Tennessee. While I can’t confirm it, at least one document could indicate that Luther relocated his practice to Hunt, Texas after the year 1900.
Once the exhilaration of these discoveries began to wane, a question came to mind. What prompted my grandfather, Fred J. Caldwell Jr., to forsake such gentlemanly occupations as the study of law or medicine for the respectable, but certainly more physical, life of a farmer? Genealogical research can uncover a wealth of information, things such as names, dates, events and places. But that sort of data doesn’t convey the thoughts and motivations of an individual. It’s too bad, as that’s certainly where the real story resides.
Fragments of family history can be gathered from a number of sources, but one can’t underestimate the value of word-of-mouth. Anecdotes handed down through the generations can be informative, inspiring, even humorous, and contain data that would otherwise be forgotten.
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