Follow the Records

At times I can be very focused on a task.  On occasion I have searched for a single record for several hours.  However, at other times, I'm all over the map.

This morning, for example, I was finishing some research regarding the burial location of my 3rd great grandfather, James F. Cochran, who died while enlisted in the Union Army. I found a record of James Cochran buried in 1864 in Grafton National Cemetery, WV and a J. F. Cochran, Cprl, buried in Antietam (photo right). I believe the latter is correct. 

While looking for more information on ancestry.com, I noticed in the member connect section that someone downloaded some info from my tree on Thomas Richard Houghton who married James F. Cochran's daughter Sarah. Thomas and Sarah are my 3rd great grandparents. I looked at the tree and found it had Cochran information I've never seen.  It provided info on James F. Cochran's father (also James) and his grandfather (Thomas).  On Thomas Cochran's page, there was an image of a transcription for the 1st Census of Greenbriar County, Virginia.
 



 I knew the 1790 US Census for had been destroyed so I googled " 1790 Virginia census" and an interesting result came back:

1790 / 1800 Virginia Tax List Censuses - Binns Genealogy 
www.binnsgenealogy.com/VirginiaTaxListCensuses

This free site provides an index and original images to the 1790 and 1800 Tithable lists.  When I think "Tithable," I think of Elijah Houghton.  Elijah, born about 1746, is my 6th great grandfather. He's a major brick wall.  I've used transcripts of British Tithable lists for clues to his origin.  These were helpful because they show an Elijah Houghton living with a Joseph Houghton in Loudoun County, Virginia, in the 1700s. I believe Joseph is Elijah's father. However, I had only seen transcripts, not original documents or images. There's something very exciting about seeing the actual doc or an image of it -- and Binns Genealogy delivered.

Anyway, Elijah later moved to Culpeper County, Virginia - but I don't know when. I had it narrowed down to somewhere between 1789 and 1810. The new Binn Tithable records show him in Loudoun in 1789 and in Culpeper by 1801.

1789 Loudoun County Tithable List

After saving the images and documenting this new information in my Roots Magic database, I uploaded the docs (with source information) to my ancestry.com tree.  Then I emailed the info to a cousin I met on-line.  Sharing is everything.

Wait, what was my point? I'm meandering. Just like my research.  I wonder if other genealogists do this? Let me pause to write a blog about it called Follow the Documents (done!).  James F. Cochran's burial research will sit on the back burner until another day.  Speaking of back-burner, that reminds me ......

 Till next time, keep the blue side up ... Lynn

My Boss; My Cousin - Brent

I'm not really well connected to my extended family.  My parent, as mentioned in an earlier blog, were only children.   I have no aunts, no uncles, no first cousins.We were geographically separated from our grandparents and cousins. Most of my siblings left home after college and moved away.  I joined the US Air Force in 1982.

A few years after I retired from the Air Force, I worked for a defense contractor where I was assigned to a project in Charlottesville, Virginia. Brent was the project lead.  Brent had also recently retired from the Air Force.  One Friday we discussed our weekend plans; were were both headed to family reunions in West Virginia. The reunions were in adjoining but different counties.  I thought it would be interesting if I could find someone from Brent's family who married someone from my family.  With a little research, I determined that we were actually 5th cousins! Our common ancestors are our 4th great-grandparents: Robert Henderson (1772 - 1837 from Augusta, Virginia) and Hanna McClung (1780 - 1849 from Bath, Virginia). 

To this day, this is my favorite genealogically discovery.  When Brent and I met, I was immediately drawn to him and his family. We worked in a very tense environment and we knew we could trust each other. No one will convince me that it wasn't because we are family.

Till next time, keep the blue side up ... Lynn

Cemeteries from the Sky - Culpeper National Cemetery

Last Sunday's flying mission was to take overhead photos of local cemeteries to post on findagrave.com -- one of my favorite sites.  I want to provide photos from a new vantage point and leave a historic record.

First target: Culpeper National Cemetery.  It's a beautiful cemetery in the heart of Virginia. There are many Civil War soldiers and veterans from other wars buried there.

I've scoured the cemetery for relatives.  There's one Houghton (John S.) who might be related.  My mother's Houghton family lived in Culpeper county before the Civil War.  Several of Elijah Houghton's sons, including my 4th g-grandfather Job Houghton, moved to what is now Lewis County, West Virginia between 1820 and 1830. Others remained in Culpeper County.

Here's the pic I posted on findagrave.com. Culpeper National Cemetery is here.

The day was slightly overcast which makes for a better image. It was also a wee bit turbulent, which does not improve the image (definitely not!).  Believe it or not, it's easy to take photos while flying. My straight-tail Cessna 172 is designed to fly straight and level even if I let go of the yoke to take a photo.  It's a big sky out there and if I drift off course a bit, no problem. The photo below is from an earlier flight over Pennsylvania.

Till next time, keep the blue side up ... Lynn