Wordless Wednesday - The next four generations

My mom and grandmother with Clifton and Minnie (Dudgeon) White. You can see the previous four generation photo with this group here.

Tuesday's Tip - Google Friend Connect is moot...now what?

One of my favorite aspects of Blogger was the Follower function. You know, all the small pictures of friends and readers of your blog. I enjoyed watching my readers grow as I put more and more effort in to my blog. I paid more attention to my Followers than the actual page views!

Google Friend Connect...my followers hidden to protect their anonymity ;)

The other thing I loved about Google Friend Connect was the ease with which I could follow other blogs. Just click "Join this site" and the blog was populated in my Google Reader. But wait, there is no Google Reader. So what is the point of Friend Connect? The fact that I'm following other blogs is listed on my profile and blog posts from the blogs I follow are listed on my Blogger homepage, but now that Reader is gone, they are no where else. I made this sad realization just the other day when I clicked to join a new site and realized that it sure wasn't going to start showing up in my Feedly reader!

So I started digging. It appears that in an effort to drive people to Google +, the Google team has now put together a Google + Followers option that merges your Blogger profile with your Google + profile. Your blog posts will automatically be listed on your Google + page. The point is that it merges your Google + and Blogger followers so that you no longer need to manage two sets of friends. Next problem? I don't use Google +. To me it's a weak version of Facebook (at this point) and not many of my friends use it. However, if Google + is your main social networking tool, it is a no brainer to merge your profiles to make it easier to share blog posts with your friends and family.

For now I'm going to keep my Google Friend Connect widget. For the good times. What will you decide?

To find out more about Google + Followers check this out. And for more information about merging your Google + and Blogger profiles, see here.

Surname Saturday - John C. Turnage

I am related to John C. Turnage through my maternal line. He was born May 18, 1851 in Missouri to Jesse C. Turnage and Esther Odell. According to Esther's obituary, the couple had 8 children, but I have only been able to determine six.

Jesse and Esther were farmers in Ray County, Missouri. When John was 13-years-old his father was murdered by members of the Bloody Bill Anderson gang on July 18, 1864. It's hard to even fathom how this affected the young teen. Soon after the death his mother Esther married Samuel Colley.

John followed in his father's footsteps becoming a farmer. I have found no record of John Turnage owning land, however, his mother had land up to at least 1897. I believe John worked that land with his mother. John married Emley O'Dell, his first cousin, on June 25, 1874.

John and Emley had four known children.

It didn't take me long to realize that I know very little about John Turnage. He was a farmer that lived near Rayville, Missouri. There you have it. Emley O'Dell died on June 24, 1916, the day before their 42nd wedding anniversary. John went on to marry a woman named Nora sometime between 1916 and 1920 and lived in Howard County, Missouri. He died November 20, 1937 in Howard County. However, he was buried next to his first wife in Ray County, Missouri at the Crowley Cemetery. 



The headstone states that he was a reverend, but all of the census records list his occupation as farmer. However, his death certificate states that he was a retired minister. His grandfather was a prominent minister so it is not a stretch to believe that he followed in his footsteps.

Due-outs for John C. Turnage:

1. Try to locate an obituary, either in Ray or Howard County, Missouri.
2. Research his religious affiliation and determine when he became a minister.
3. Reach out via message boards and local genealogy society to try to find a photo of John.

Follow Friday - Favorites for July 26, 2013

Favorites is my weekly list of favorite genealogy, history and random finds from across the Net.

Funny obits bring new life to a dying art

Check out this amazing online tour created by the Warrenville Historical Society

A 17th-Century Sex Manual That's Legitimately Raunchy; view at your own risk ;)

A Citizen's Letter Tattling on Some AWOL Soldiers, 1918

Return of a Purple Heart at Filiopietism Prism
Where Do I fit in? Valediction at Ahnentafal, Genealogically Speaking
The Puffy shirt and Seinlanguage
Dazzle camouflage: the art of war
The house that time forgot
A San Francisco photo mystery solved
The Civil War in 4 series at the Civil War Trust gives great information...all in four minutes
2014 celebrates the 90th anniversary of the Rand McNally Road Atlas (yes, I still use maps)
A cool map webpage find thanks to Randy at Genea-Musings
10 countries that love (and hate) America most
Royal baby, meet the relatives
How to find really obscure sources at Genealogy's Star

Wordless Wednesday - Happy Turnages

Jesse and Ora Turnage of Rayville, Missouri

Tuesday's Tip - Adding a Feedly follow button in Blogger

After reviewing many blog aggregates to replace Google Reader, I finally decided on Feedly.com. It works on all of my toys: apple, PC or tablet. I have read that many blogs followed the same path so I have decided to add a button to my blog to allow folks to follow me via Feedly.

Through the Feedly Factory you can design your own Feedly button through an easy three-step process:

1. Select your button design
2. Load your feed URL
3. Copy your HTML

The web page will create the HTML to place the button on your blog based on your input. You will then cut and paste this code as a gadget in Blogger. Be sure to post your feed URL, not just your blog's URL address. For help determining your feed URL, see here. (Thank you to Elizabeth for pointing this out!)

To add the Feedly button in Blogger, visit the layout page for your blog and locate the "add a gadget" link. Both circled in black below, though it's placement will vary based on the template used for your particular blog.



This will open the Add a Gadget link.

Scroll down the options until you find the HTML/Java Script gadget.

Cut and paste the provided HTML from the Feedly Factory page and press save.

The Title button will include a type-written title for your button, as shown below. I chose to leave this blank because the button speaks for itself.

Play around with the button size and design until you find the right look for your blog. Don't forget to save before exiting.

 

UPDATE: Blogger has a site listing it's feed URLs here.

Follow Friday - Favorites for July 19, 2013

Favorites is my weekly list of favorite genealogy, history and random finds from across the Net.

First female homesteader found at Ancestry.com and Fold3.com

A review of The Big Divide, Missouri-Kansas Border Region Civil War sites travel guide

500 years of women's portraits in Western art - in three minutes  

A great blog prompt at Lara's Family Search: Ancestor Deep Dive

An interesting tale of how grog can lead you astray at Lives Once Left Behind

After Toil Comes Rest shares the Unemployment Relief Census of 1933 (Oklahoma)

Here comes the bride: an 1825 carriage

Wonderful photos of welcoming the newest generation at Threading Needles in a Haystack

Marian at Climbing My Family Tree remembers the Bronx's Freedomland

Great thoughts about collaboration at Desperately Seeking Surnames

The right stuff at The Old Trunk in the Attic 

Find Oregon ancestors at Historic Oregon Newspapers

The 54th, the medal and the law at the Legal Genealogist

Hotel horror, remembering the 1981 Hyatt Regency Hotel disaster in Kansas City

 

 

Happy Birthday, Dad!

Warren Kuhn contemplating wish greatness with Audrey and Ruth Burnett, July 16, 1952

Happy Birthday, Dad!

Ah...summer travel

Ah...travel. My family just completed a 2,182 mile road trip from Arkansas to California courtesy the U.S. military. That's six days in two cars with two children under six. We had a great time exploring the western states on our trip and made an uneventful arrival at our new home in California (minus the crack in the windshield). We are working to get settled, find a new home and find the new "favorites" in the area. It's hard to say how long we'll be here, but it is really nice to start a new adventure!

Follow Friday - Favorites for July 12, 2013

Favorites is my weekly list of favorite genealogy, history and random finds from across the Net.

Looking back at the National Personnel Records Center 1973 fire

A free course for reading medieval handwriting
Photographic faces of the American Revolution
Professor finds rare FDR wheelchair video clip
AnceStories shares digital news archive search engine, elephind.com
Yvonne at Yvonne's Genealogy Blog shares a letter from Buckingham Palace
Remembering I Can Read books at Ancestors Live Here
Finds from a National Guard enlistment card at How Did I Get Here
A football coaching phenom at Roots From the Bayou
Vacationer finds diamond in Arkansas
Treasures in the Smithsonian's attic
7 crucial tips: How to get your blog listed on Google
Our Own History shares a visit to an Alabama Civilian Conservation Corps museum
How Tootsie changed Dustin Hoffman: 'it was never a comedy for me.'
An interesting piece about summer kitchens at My Ancestors and Me

Follow Friday - Favorites for July 5, 2013

Favorites is my weekly list of favorite genealogy, history and random finds from across the Net.

WWII German bomber raised from the sea

Who put the heads on Pez?

Sunday houses in Fredericksburg at ABT UNK

America's most endangered historical places

Nephew thanks U.S. Army for liberating uncle in 1945

The Statue of Liberty's history in photos

Teacher wears same outfit for 40 years

Gettysburg: the great reunion of 1913

Gettysburg relived deadly drama 150 years later

What do sunglasses have to do with syphilis?

They weren't always white: wedding dresses through the years

Confederate POWs produce their own fish wrapper

Wordless Wednesday - Spring love

Hazel and Rose Mary White, probably in Spring 1933.