Just 15 minutes
Sometimes that's all it takes. I was just sitting here at my computer this morning having my cup of coffee and trying to wake up. I decided to open my file cabinet beside me and just pull out a file and see what I could find.
I reached in and just randomly selected James "Jim" Holcomb Graham. My Aunt did a lot of the research on our Graham's so I haven't spent much time there yet. I did see what else I could find on them when I had my subscription to Ancestry.com, but with not much new information. What was on Rootsweb.com was information my Aunt had given me. So I just put their information aside for another day.
I was sitting here just going over my notes and that of my Aunt when I happened to notice one of her notations to herself (1860 Census? and 1870 Census?) She hadn't been able to find the family in those two censuses. So I pulled up my Heritage Quest and went to work. I also had made notes when I was searching Ancestry and hadn't been able to find them either.
I'll be darn if I didn't find them with in 15 minutes of searching. First I started looking for Jim Graham (the name he was known to use), but still no luck. Now James would have been about 8 and 18 respectively in those two censuses. So I got to thinking I might have better luck looking for his father, Tillman Williamson "T.W." Graham. With the chance that he went by T.W. sometimes and Tillman other times I just put "T" Graham in my search criteria. It turned up nothing for 1860, but there they were in 1870. T.W. Graham, wife J.J. (Jency Jane) with eight children, including James H (that's why, he must not have used the name Jim until he was a grown man) 18 years old. They were living in Grayson Co., TX.
So in a matter of 15 minutes I found a census record we had never found. In it I have five more names of siblings we also did not previously have.
Now to add to this discovery I also have a new mystery this census has presented to me. In the two dwellings listed above T.W. Graham are two other Graham families, but here is the interesting part. T.W. is white and in every record is listed as such. But these two families with the same name are Black/Mulatto. Are these former slaves of the Graham family who have followed the Grahams to Texas and taken there name as well? I believe (though I have yet to find records) that it was very possible the Grahams did own slaves since they were from NC and TN. Did they free their slaves, who then followed them to Texas and became their employed servants and neighbors? I would like to think that they made an effort to set right the injustice they may have participated in.
Now I will research this family listed with them and see if I find any other connections.
By the way I am going back to work. My husband is coming off the road and looking for something here near home. But I will try and make a greater effort to keep up with my blog and my research now. We have a few more remodel projects we are buried in, but after those are complete we will quit working on this house until we can save up enough money to do those major remodel projects now. So I should have more time in the near future even though I will be working.
Until next time, Happy Hunting.
I reached in and just randomly selected James "Jim" Holcomb Graham. My Aunt did a lot of the research on our Graham's so I haven't spent much time there yet. I did see what else I could find on them when I had my subscription to Ancestry.com, but with not much new information. What was on Rootsweb.com was information my Aunt had given me. So I just put their information aside for another day.
I was sitting here just going over my notes and that of my Aunt when I happened to notice one of her notations to herself (1860 Census? and 1870 Census?) She hadn't been able to find the family in those two censuses. So I pulled up my Heritage Quest and went to work. I also had made notes when I was searching Ancestry and hadn't been able to find them either.
I'll be darn if I didn't find them with in 15 minutes of searching. First I started looking for Jim Graham (the name he was known to use), but still no luck. Now James would have been about 8 and 18 respectively in those two censuses. So I got to thinking I might have better luck looking for his father, Tillman Williamson "T.W." Graham. With the chance that he went by T.W. sometimes and Tillman other times I just put "T" Graham in my search criteria. It turned up nothing for 1860, but there they were in 1870. T.W. Graham, wife J.J. (Jency Jane) with eight children, including James H (that's why, he must not have used the name Jim until he was a grown man) 18 years old. They were living in Grayson Co., TX.
So in a matter of 15 minutes I found a census record we had never found. In it I have five more names of siblings we also did not previously have.
Now to add to this discovery I also have a new mystery this census has presented to me. In the two dwellings listed above T.W. Graham are two other Graham families, but here is the interesting part. T.W. is white and in every record is listed as such. But these two families with the same name are Black/Mulatto. Are these former slaves of the Graham family who have followed the Grahams to Texas and taken there name as well? I believe (though I have yet to find records) that it was very possible the Grahams did own slaves since they were from NC and TN. Did they free their slaves, who then followed them to Texas and became their employed servants and neighbors? I would like to think that they made an effort to set right the injustice they may have participated in.
Now I will research this family listed with them and see if I find any other connections.
By the way I am going back to work. My husband is coming off the road and looking for something here near home. But I will try and make a greater effort to keep up with my blog and my research now. We have a few more remodel projects we are buried in, but after those are complete we will quit working on this house until we can save up enough money to do those major remodel projects now. So I should have more time in the near future even though I will be working.
Until next time, Happy Hunting.
Comments
Good hunting!