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COASTAL GEORGIA GENEALOGY
SOCIETY NEWS & REVIEWS (JUNE 2003)STATE ARCHIVES IS OPEN FOR BUSINESS
The Georgia State Archives has completed their move and as of 6 May 2003,
they have been open for business.
Regular hours are Tuesday
through Saturday from 8:30 am to 5:00 pm and the building is located at
5800 Jonesboro Rd., Morrow, GA 30260 adjacent to the campus of Clayton
College and State University. Their phone number is (678)364-3700.
The National Archives and
Records Administration (NARA) plans to move its Southeastern regional
facility from East Point, Georgia, to this location, and a new NARA
headquarters will be built alongside the Georgia Archives. This
co-locating of state and federal archives facilities will be a national
first.
You can visit them on the
web at: <http://www.sos.state.ga.us/archives/>
THE OCCUPATION OF BRUNSWICK
While visiting at the
Bryan-Lang Historic Library in Camden County, Mr. Harper showed me a
newspaper from 1862. It was “The New York Times” and it was reporting on
the occupation of Brunswick in March of that year.
I have transcribed the
article fully and placed it on the Glynn County website under the Military
links. The direct address is: <http://www.rootsweb.com/~gaglynn/military_occofbwk.htm>
RACIAL DNA
My family members are
always telling stories about this ancestor or that ancestor. One of the
more constant stories is that we are part Cherokee. Of course no one is
sure how much Cherokee that part is.
While doing my family
research I came into contact with a very distant “cousin” who told me
which ancestor of mine was Cherokee and that I am 1/64 Cherokee. He has
traced a family line of his back to 600 B.C. so I think he may know what
he is talking about.
My fourth paternal great
grandmother was born in 1812 on Cherokee lands in North Carolina.
Apparently she was given a Christian name of Rebecca Sanders, along with
about 100 other little girls in the area!
She married a Quaker, Moses
Rich, which caused him to be disowned from the church for marrying out of
unity or society. He then moved to Indiana from North Carolina, and quite
possibly was accepted back into the society there. I am not sure about
this, as there are many Moses Rich names listed in Quaker Records.
My dad’s brother tells me
that we are in fact part Cherokee and that his grandmother received lands
in North Carolina, but refused them because she didn’t want to move from
Indiana. How true this is, I have yet to find out.
The point of this story, is
that I have family accountings of my Cherokee history, but no physical or
paper documentation. Wouldn’t it be great to just test your blood and
find out what your racial mix is, really?
Well, for about $158, you
can! DNAprint Genomics offers a home testing kit that you do yourself,
and send off to them, and in return you will find out your ethnic
background. According to this company we all descended from a common
ancestor about 200,000 years ago and due to their migration to other
areas, we now have different ethnicities.
For your $158 you get a
certificate and results table showing your ancestral proportions, a
graphical representation of your results, a map of ancient human migration
patterns, your genotypes at tested markers, and more. For an extra $5
they will store your results, and an extra $10 they will store your DNA
for future use and testing.
Right now I have a little
extra money, and I am very curious, but $158 will pay a lot of bills and
buy lots of hamburgers.
Their web site is at: <http://www.dnaprint.com/>
or email them at: <admin@dnaprint.com>.
Or you can write or call
them at:
900 Cocoanut Ave.
Sarasota, FL 34236
(941) 366-3400
Fax # (941) 952-9770
Anyone else curious, with
deep pockets? Of course you may find out something you don’t want to
know!
THE BRICK WALL
Amy asked us about our
"brick walls" in genealogy research- but I would like to report on MY
brick wall that just came tumbling down!
For years I have searched
for the Graves family home in New Kent Co., Virginia called "Indian
Fields". Eleven years ago I wrote to the librarian in Providence Forge,
Virginia and she told me of a house called "Spring Hill" but knew nothing
of the one I continued to look for- convinced by now that it was long
gone.
Six months ago I received a
letter from an architect in Williamsburg about "Spring Hill" being put on
the National Register of Historic Places and inquiring about my connection
to the Graves family (somehow my letter to the librarian had survived!)
It turns out that Spring
Hill is indeed the old Graves home (built in 1760) and is located in
Indian fields- the area where the Indians long ago camped!
I contacted the couple who
now own the property and they invited me to visit- which I did last April
when I was in Williamsburg. And what a thrill it was. Originally only 4
rooms and used as a tavern and stopover as a half way point between
Richmond and Williamsburg (legend has it that Thomas Jefferson stopped
there on his way to Williamsburg to get married) the house now has an
addition but is still the typical VA colonial with dormers.
It served as a field
hospital in the Civil war and we were shown the blood stains on the floor
of an upstairs bedroom that served as an operating room
The present owners were as
happy to meet descendents of the original Graves family as we were to find
our roots.
So never discount `dead
ends` or 'brick walls' in genealogy. One never knows when a miracle will
happen- eleven years later!
Dot Fowler <mailto:dotfowler@earthlink.net>
Note From Editor: I know
it sounds gruesome, but that is “so cool” that there are still blood
stains on the floor from the Civil War operating room. I hope they never
try to clean them up, it is a stain of history!---Amy
INTERNET
<http://www.newenglandancestors.org>
New England ancestors anyone? This site has been put together by the New
England Historic Genealogical Society, which has been acquiring and
preserving unique family history records for over 150 years! New
databases are added every week.
UPCOMING EVENTS
JUNE, SLAVE CABINS AT
GASCOIGNE BLUFF take a tour of the slave cabins and learn about their
history and their future renovation. Tours are available from 10 a.m. to
noon every Wednesday. To set up special tours, call (912) 638-5791.
Tours are also free but donations are accepted. Sponsored by the Cassina
Garden Club.
JUNE, MIDLRED NIX HUIE
MUSEUM the life work of Ms. Huie will be on display in the historic
Mediterranean house built in 1929 by Fred. R.L. Stroberg. Summer hours
are Wed.-Sat. from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. with a 30 minute tour given each day
at 10:30 a.m. and 2 p.m., Sunday 2-5 p.m. with tour available upon
request. Call (912) 638-3057 for group reservations or call
(912)638-3017. Admission is free but donations are accepted.
2-28 JUNE 2003 HANDS ON
HISTORY PROGRAM. Four different opportunities to learn about Jekyll
Island’s fascinating history while possibly getting your hands dirty!
Parents are invited and encouraged to participate alongside their
children. 10 a.m. to noon, Monday-Saturday. Island History Center, Jekyll
Island. $8 per person with a $25 family cap. Information: 912-635-4036.
7 JUNE 2003 SMITH/DAVIS
REUNION will be held at the American Legion Hall on St. Simons Island,
covered dish. Call Bill Smith for more info at (912) 267-7799. (I forgot
to put this in the printed version of the newsletter that was mailed out)
14 JUNE 2003 2pm at the
Midway Museum, Buddy Sullivan will be holding a book signing.
26-27 JUNE 2003 BUCKNER
MELTON discusses his book about American naval history “A Hanging Offense:
The Strange Affair of the Warship Somers.”
26th he will be at the
Wayne county Library at 7 p.m.
27th he will be at the
Brunswick-Glynn Library at 7 p.m.
PUBLICATIONS
“Cumberland Island, Strong
Women, Wild Horses” by Charles Seabrook; published by John F. Blair,
Publisher 2002. This book can be found at most local bookstores. It is a
very entertaining read, giving history, stories, and recent upheavals and
changes on Cumberland Island, Camden Co., Georgia. There a many photos of
the people and the homes before they (the homes) were destroyed by fire,
time, and carelessness. 373 pages including index.
WAR CORRESPONDENCE LETTERS
Andrew Carroll,
best-selling author of “Letters of a Nation” and “War Letters” is heading
up a new project this August. Over an eight month period, Mr. Carroll
will travel to 25 different nations seeking out letters that were written
during various wars by people of other nations such as Germany, Korea,
Vietnam, etc.
The spark was lit by the
military personnel that Mr. Carroll talked with on his various research
endeavors. They were curious to know what the other allies and enemies
were living with, and what they had to overcome during these wars. After
all, many people who fought in these wars were young men, like our
soldiers, who just wanted to go home in one piece.
Mr. Carroll is also the
head of the “The Legacy Project” and they have already received many
letters donated by the American born children of veterans from other
countries.
Most of these letters will
be donated to a museum or archive, to preserve the war history of nations,
as every nation is fast loosing their war veterans.
Even though this new
endeavor has not even started, you can submit your letters as soon as you
like. The Legacy Project is still accepting correspondence between US
soldiers and their families. Any correspondence from the following
qualify: American Revolution, the Civil War, the War of 1812, the
Spanish-American War, the Philippines, WWI, WWII, Korea, Vietnam, the Gulf
War, Bosnia, Kosovo, Afghanistan, Operation Iraqi Freedom, etc.
The letter do not even have
to be from combatants. Here are some guidelines on what the Legacy
Project is looking for:
Letters & emails written by
soldiers to home, and from home to the soldiers.
Letters from civilians
during the Blitz in London or New Yorkers on 9/11.
Letters from nurses and
members of peacekeeping forces.
Letters from foreign-born
war brides of American service.
Letters between veterans
from different countries who have stayed in contact after they returned
home. Especially letters between former enemies who have become friends
after the battle ended.
To submit your letters,
make a photo copy of the original and a type written transcription. If it
is in a foreign language, a translation would be appreciated. You can
email them to <WarLetterProject@aol.com>
or you can mail them to:
The Legacy Project
P.O. Box 53250
Washington, D.C. 20009
For more information about the project you can visit them on the web at <www.warletters.com>. All
letters go directly to Mr. Carroll and are not used without permission.
GEORGIA RECORDS ONLINE
I know many of you are not
computer savvy, and many more of you are not into subscription web sites,
for whatever reason, but I thought this worthy of mention.
After only a couple years
of researching from home, I realized that at least one subscription site
could quite possibly be handy. I did a little research between
Genealogy.com, who is the sponsor of my genealogy software, and
Ancestry.com. There were only a few differences that I saw, and they were
pro and con on both sides.
One, is that
Genealogy.com’s books online are the actual scanned pages of the books
they came from, whereas on Ancestry there are transcribed pages, more
prone to mistakes, and harder to search. However, some are scanned
pages. Also on Genealogy.com is the 1900 census index, not found on
Ancestry.
However, Ancestry’s pros
outweighed Genealogy.com’s, so I chose Ancestry. I have a subscription to
their databases, and one for the census images, which have been extremely
useful.
Now, in my volunteer
research pursuits, I have come across some locals here who have some
records that I just wish I could look through at home, but I can not, as I
don’t have a microfiche machine. One of these sources is the Georgia
Death Index spanning from 1919 to 1998. The state health department quit
making copies of these microfiche because the copies were getting very
poor and hard to read. I know of only two sets that are available in this
area. One is in Camden County at the Bryan-Lang Library and the other is
in a private collection, that will hopefully one day be donated to our
local library.
Well, this doesn’t help me
when I sleep most of the day and would like to do my research in the
evening or at night. Ancestry.com is always surprising me, because they
now have this index online. You just type in the name, and or the county
they lived in or died in, and viola, everyone with that name is there.
But just like the books,
this is a transcribed record so may not be very accurate, but hey, it is
something.
Another neat little
resource that has just recently come online at Ancestry is the “Memoirs of
Georgia” published by the Southern Historical Association in 1895. And
this book, glory be, has been scanned and you can view the actual pages,
not a transcription.
Contained in these two
volumes are personal sketches, history, military history, and industrial
history.
Other Georgia records at
Ancestry are: Georgia Marriages up to 1850 and Georgia Marriages from
1851 to 1900, many books on military history, family charts and pedigrees,
maps, newspapers, court records, and so much more.
The intent of this article
is not to get you to buy a subscription, but to share with you that there
are more and more valuable resources coming online, not just at Ancestry,
everyday that may help you with your “armchair” or “pajama” researching.
Sites such as these have
been invaluable to my personal research and for my volunteer research that
I do for others. I have tumbled a few brick walls using the message
boards here, and the census images are great, especially since I live in
Georgia and need to see Indiana census images. And I can do this at 3
a.m. if I wish.
MEMBERSHIP INFORMATION
Annual membership to the
CGGS is only $15 for one person or $18 for a family. Membership extends
from 1 January 2003 to 31 December 2003.
Remit payment to our
treasurer:
Barbara Baethke
119 Bayberry Circle
St. Simons Is. , GA 31522
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