Wordless Wednesday - Four generations

Rose Mary White, Clifton White, Minnie Lee Dudgeon White, Elizabeth Riffe Dudgeon, circa 1938

How much evidence provides a conclusive link?

I am a stickler for proof. I do not add individuals to my tree unless I feel I have substantial proof to place them there. I even have a "test" tree where I place individuals that don't have quite the provenance to belong to my family. A bit much, perhaps, but if I don't get it right (or pretty damn close) who will?

Charles M. Webb is one such ancestor...or rather, his parents are. I have conclusive proof that Charles M. Webb is my 5th great-grandfather. I have a copy of his probate documents from Shelby County, Indiana that clearly list his children as Jesse M. Webb, Rene M. Webb, Charles M. Webb (my 4th great-grandfather) and James W. Webb. Charles M. Webb, Sr., died in 1845 and Gerrard Spurrier was named as guardian for his minor children.

One paragraph in Charles Webb's probate documents references monies earned from the sale of four slaves, a woman and three children, in Orange County, Virginia. The slaves were part of the estate of Mary Webb. Charles inherited the monies from the sale of the slaves, but being deceased the money was added to the trust of his minor children. There is no further mention of Mary Webb, except for that she lived in Orange County, Virginia. She is obviously a relative of Charles Webb, but how are they related?

Once they grew to adulthood, the Webb children moved to Ray County, Missouri. I have in my possession a letter to Rene M. Webb in Richmond, Missouri, from William C. Moorson, dated November 16, 1858. The letter is postmarked from Orange, Virginia, and tells Rene Webb that his uncle Jesse has passed away. The letter goes on to state that B.B. Almond was in the process of refuting Uncle Jesse's will on the grounds that he was not in his right mind. The letter's author, William Moorson, lists several witnesses that were willing to state Uncle Jesse was indeed "sane" and indicates that Rene knows the gentlemen:

It states: "I think you and your brother Jesse and Mr. Spurrier were acquainted with William M. Reynolds and James B. Moore." I believe this to be proof that Charles M. Webb, Sr., had a brother Jesse living in Orange County, Virginia.

I was able to find a Jesse M. Webb living with a Mary Webb in Orange County, Virginia on the 1850 census.

This Jesse would be an appropriate age to be a sibling of my Charles M. Webb. Note that Mary would more than likely be his mother and that her property is valued at $990. Quite a large sum for the time.

Are these my Webbs of Orange County, Virginia? I have not yet tried to locate the probate documents for the Mary Webb listed in Charles Webb's estate, so I do not have proof via court documents. But what if there is no proof of her connection? Is the above enough proof? Not for me...what are your thoughts?

Yet another set of Italian names I can't trace

I have thoroughly enjoyed researching my husband's Italian ancestry. It is mostly because deep down inside I wish I were Italian. But I also enjoy the successes I find when I hit brick walls in Italy. They seem that much sweeter because they were difficult to overcome.

I have a new set of Italian names I can't trace. The main line I am researching is Pagano. I have long since traced them to Ventimiglia, Sicily and have found birth and marriage records for the family via LDS research. The Ingraffia family married in to this Pagano line following their immigration to New York City. I have not had as much success with this line. Although I know they immigrated in 1898, I don't know from whence they came. The father of this line, Angelo Ingraffia, died prior to the immigration and the mother, Catherine Spalitto, remarried...which caused all kinds of confusion in my research. Now it is her maiden name that causes me untold grief.

I have seen this name as Spragleti, Spalliffan, and Spalletto. I recently received a copy of her death certificate:

Yes, yet another spelling. The cherry on top is her mother's maiden name. Normally a wondrous thing, but in this case it opens up another can of worms. During a brief research foray on the above names I find nothing. I can find little to no trace of the surname "Narfia." Not even a hint of where the name originates. I'm not sure if the Spalittos, Narfias and Ingraffias are from Sicily or somewhere else in Italy.

I have found two ship manifests that may help in my search. One manifest lists a Giovanna Ingraffia (possibly my husband's great-grandmother) arriving in New York November 16, 1899, her last residence listed as Mezzojuso. A second manifest lists a Catherina Spalletto and Pietrina Ingraffia arriving in New York on June 28, 1899, last residence listed as Mezzojuso. I do not have conclusive proof that these manifests are for the individuals I'm researching, but at this point it's all I have to go on. Ah, the joys of research.

(Not my) Treasure Chest Thursday - "The Bride's Book" for Betty and Charles, Part II

Last week I wrote about a bride's book that I found at a local antique store and my quest to return it to it's rightful owner. The book belonged to Betty, a young bride from California, and included all the memories from her wedding in 1953. Included in the antique store find was Betty's teenage dream scrapbook with content ranging from magazine clippings of her dream of a future life of marital bliss to various scraps from her teen years. These two books enthralled me. They symbolized what many young girls of the 1950s hoped their lives would become: June Cleaver in a Leave-it-to-Beaver world.

One of Betty's "dream kitchens."

Yet, my initial forays in finding Betty and her new husband, Charles, came up empty. Then on a re-attack I came across some distressing news. Betty and Charles were divorced, 21 years after they married. Both of them remarried within a couple of years of the divorce, but apparently those marriages went south as well, as Betty divorced her second husband after only two months and Charles divorced after only a year or so. I now understood why she got rid of her scrapbooks...too many memories she wanted to forget. Life had not panned out like she had dreamed it would.

Just as I was chalking up the Betty and Charles story as another sad but frequent story of love gone wrong, I happened to look at the California Marriage Index entry for Betty. She was listed twice, once with Charles and once with her second husband. I had not thought twice about this because it was a fact. But this particular index lists California marriages from 1960-1985...Betty and Charles were married in 1953. I scanned for the date and there it was:

Charles and Betty's marriage...their second one. On their 25th anniversary, no less. I was ecstatic to find this. I have no idea what happened to Betty and Charles, but I don't care. I'm going to stop researching and live with my own dream...that the young girl finally found her happily ever after.

Tuesday's Tip - Sons of the American Revolution Membership applications

If you are a member of Ancestry.com, or a frequent visitor, you have no doubt noticed that over the July 4th weekend, Ancestry.com offered free searches of a new database: Sons of the American Revolution Membership applications. The database contains applications for individuals interested in joining the National Society of the Sons of the American Revolution, a lineage society for men with Revolutionary War ancestors.

My family lines have been in the United States for quite a while so there are several Revolutionary War ancestors in my past. But I have spent more time researching nearer ancestors, so have not done very much research of the 1700s or the Revolutionary War. A free database search was just the thing to jump start my 18th century research. I did a search for known Revolutionary War ancestors and found several applications for them. The applications vary in depth of information and sources. One application, for Nathanial Fifield, listed a local history book as it's source. Hardly the standards of proof that the SAR requires today, but still a lead I was not aware of. It's redeeming quality was another source for the New Hampshire State papers, with volume and page number. Having never conducted research for New Hampshire, this was a new source to me. (Now available online at the New Hampshire State Archives website.)

SAR application sources for Revolutionary War veteran Nathaniel Fifield.

With such success I decided to search for surnames of individuals that were of the appropriate age to have fought in the war; ancestors whose war service I had yet to discover. Low and behold, several of them were listed in an application. Granted, I will have to do follow up research, but the applications have given me research leads I did not have before.

The icing on the cake? I found an application for a distant uncle...looks like I am not the only one excited by SAR records! Now is a great time to try this database and see what research leads, or unknown veterans, you may have in your family.

Remember 4th of July?

Photo by Dori, wikimedia commons

I love the 4th of July. It is one of my favorite holidays, perhaps because it is rooted in history...and I love potato salad. When I was younger, the 4th of July was a holiday spent with friends and family to have fun and celebrate not just our country's independence, but to celebrate generation after generation of Americans that have made our country what it is today.

Yesterday, on a drive around town I became completely disenfranchised with the American way. I could count on one hand the retail stores and restaurants that were closed. When I was younger the only things open were gas stations and my family even felt guilty about using those. "No one should have to work on a holiday," my father always says. There are obvious exceptions...hospitals, police stations, etc. But do the warehouse box stores really need to be open? Do we really need to buy a box fan or a can of paint on a holiday? No. Things can wait a day. I couldn't help but be sad and remember the old days where you made sure had what you needed to celebrate holidays BEFORE the holiday. It comes down to the almighty dollar and America's need to get it.

I suppose what upsets me the most is based in selfishness. Everything was open yesterday, a national holiday. How long will it be before business men and women wonder to themselves: "everything else is open why should I lose a day of business for this holiday?" Before you know it, we'll all be working...bar-b-cues and parades a thing of the past. I truly hope that 10 years from now I'm not writing my fourth of July rant blog post from my office desk.

Follow Friday - Great Missouri Treasure Hunt

It should come as no surprise that I love the state of Missouri...being a 6th generation Missourian. I just came across a contest sponsored by the office of the secretary of State, Robin Carnahan, called The Great Missouri Treasure Hunt. The intent is to entice Missourians to utilize the State Archives and other research repositories to find treasures for their families, as well as share the stories behind treasures they already own. I'm already thinking of what treasure to enter!

Welcome to The Great Missouri Treasure Hunt from mosecofstate on Vimeo.

Thanks to Desperately Seeking Surnames for bringing this to my attention!