Family Recipe Friday

Potato Soup

2 c water
4 c cubed potatoes
1 c chopped onion
1 c chopped celery
1 grated carrot
1 stick margarine
2 chicken bouillon cubes

Add all ingredients to a large pot and cook on medium until tender, mash the mixture or use an immersion blender to break up larger chunks.  Lower heat and add 2 cups milk and 1 small can canned milk.  Heat through adding salt and pepper to taste.

This recipe was from my Grandma Hamby, my maternal grandmother.  This is one of my all time favorite recipes of hers and I make it often for my family.

Wordless Wednesday

Great Grandmother, Martha Louella Vann, girl in center

Great Great Grandfather, Alford Lawrence Vann, man seated

Great Great Grandmother, Vina Ann Gregory, woman seated

Military Monday

Each Monday I'll take the time to introduce you to a little bit of information I've gathered about my ancestors and the military.  Let me tell you, there are a lot of connections to the military in our family...and boy, does that make me proud!  Not only am I married to an active duty guy, but I'm the daughter of a Vietnam veteran ( love ya Daddy-O!).


Now, let's just say that our families military roots go all the way back to the American Revolution...isn't that amazing!  We've got Civil War soldiers on the tree too...both Union and Confederate!  And then, we have World War II veterans.  And we may even have a veteran from the War of 1812...I'm still working on confirming that one!  Like I said in a previous post, it's like being a detective...you've got to do a lot of searching and verifying before you can say for sure! 

So, what am I gonna show you today?  How about we start with World War I Draft Registration Cards. 

Here's a little information from the Ancestry.com website about these registration cards:

In 1917 and 1918, approximately 24 million men living in the United States completed a World War I draft registration card. These registration cards represent approximately 98% of the men under the age of 46. The total U.S. population in 1917-1918 was about 100 million individuals. In other words, close to 25% of the total population is represented in these records.


Below is the WWI Draft Registration Card for Harry Connolly, my husband's great grandfather.  You can gather all types of information from these cards.  The person's address, occupation and employer and even their nearest relative.

This next card is from my great grandfather, Paul Andrew Stringer.  In viewing these cards, I especially like the fact you can see their actual signature. 

Well, that's all for Military Monday...I hope you enjoyed getting a little glimpse into the past with me. 

Tiffany



Detective Work 101

Starting in genealogy is sorta like being a detective.  There is a whole lot of leg work to make sure you actually have the person you are looking for.  No matter if you think you have a pretty unique name or not.  For example, here are the some of the surnames for the family tree I'm working on: Bodge, Stringer, Connolly, Hamby, Manson, Morris, Cox, Vann, and Smith.  Now, at first glance I thought this should be no problem except for a couple of the names I didn't think they were all that common...I was wrong.  I've made progress with most of the branches but am still some stumped on some of them.  Ancestry.com has been a huge help.  It is a bit pricey but having so much information in one place saves so much time.  I love to see when I have a little wiggly leaf pop up...yea, you've seen those commercials...those little leaves are addicting (and frustrating)!  One thing those little leaves may show you are other trees with the same ancestor as yours, among other things...but that's not always the case.  Which begins more detective work because some of those other people have failed to verify their information.  Verifying information is critical to genealogy.  You need to make sure you have the right person and the documentation to prove they are your ancestor and their information is accurate.  In some cases you may have the right person but some of the infomation may be inaccurate and needs additional research.  For example, I'm pretty sure if someone was born in 1794 they didn't get married in 1802...yea, I've actually seen this on someone's tree.  Really?!?!  I know people got married at much younger ages back then but 8 is pushing it just a bit! 

Tiffany

Branches, o' so many branches...

Where do I start?  Who do I start with?  Do I start at the beginning...in the middle...does it really matter?  I've tended to go with the last one there...it doesn't really matter as long as you start!  And I guess for the most part you do kinda have to start at the beginning.  Yea, I know, I'm back-tracking!  I guess, what I'm really trying to say is this...once you have a foundation it's okay to jump around.  Some days I feel like a monkey jumping branch to branch...but this family tree...it's got a LOT of branches.  And when you hit the inevitable brick wall, it's nice to jump to another branch and see what you can find and let me tell you I've found lots...interested???  Good...there's a lot going on with the Bodge-Stringer tree and I want to share it with you!

Tiffany

In the beginning...

What started out as a highschool elective class for G-money has turned into quite the obsession for me.  Now don't get me wrong; he enjoyed it too, but for me it was fascinating.  Watching my (and my son's too, of course) family tree begin to take shape made me want to know more.  So after Christmas when the semester ended and his class was done...that's when I took over!  Now, I am continuing with my son's family tree because quite frankly, my husband's side of the family is as fascinating as mine.  And for the most part, they are a mystery to me and I want my son to have a complete understanding of all those people that came before him.  I've been fortunate to have my parents fill in some of the gaps for me and my mom's side of the family has done a significant amount of research which they have been so gracious to pass along.  My mother-in-law also has been a willing participant in my quest for information.   I've decided to document my journey as I dig through the past to find out more information about my ancestors.  My hopes are also that family and friends will frequent this page to maybe help fill in any of the gaps I may come across in my search.

Tiffany