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Thank you for visiting my blog!

This blog is used to share information I find about the families I am researching. To see these family names click on the "My Families" tab. Please feel free to make comments, corrections, and ask questions here or on my Facebook page or go to the "About Me" tab to send an e-mail.

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My posts can be accessed by the date posted from the column on the right. Blog posts containing specific surnames can be found by clicking on the names in the left column.

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Saturday, November 28, 2020

Clippings from The Baylor County Banner - Seymour, Texas - March 8, 1923



My grandparents, Redic E. Bryan and Myrtie Hairston, and my great-grandparent's, Phillip A. Hairston and Lodema Criswell, moved to Baylor County in 1905. My father, Whit Criswell Bryan, was born in Seymour in 1920. He was the youngest of seven children born to Redic and Myrtie. Redic and Myrtie died in the 1920s and my father moved, along with his sisters, to Borger, Texas. 

In April 2019, I visited the Texas State Library and Archives to read Baylor County Banner issues that could not be found online or on microfilm. I photographed articles with information about my father's family who lived in Seymour. While sorting through my family finds, I realized I had photos of articles that might interest others looking for family. I have pictures of numerous articles from 1923 and a few from other years. I will post as time allows. 

Thank you to Matt Gwinn at the Baylor County Banner for giving me permission to post these clippings.  







If you want to know more about the families I research, click here to like my Facebook page where you will see each post and other genealogical finds. 

Diana
© 2020

Sources

Harrison, O. C. The Baylor County Banner. (Seymour, TX.), Vol. 27*, No. 24. 8 Mar 1923. Print. Accessed 15 April 2019. 

*Note that January and February issues were part of Vol. 28. This and all March and April issues were printed as Vol. 27. In May, it goes back to Vol. 28. 

Friday, November 27, 2020

Friday's Photo: Grover Frye of Louisiana



Grover Frye was found written on the back of this photo -another from the Frye family. A search for Grover points to Andrew "Andy" Grover Frye the son of Alexander Hamilton Frye and Georgia Ellen Gains. According to WWI and WWII draft cards, he was born in Minden in Webster Parish on August 11, 1888. 

The high collar and small bowtie indicate that the photo was probably taken in the early 1900s. I did not find a marriage record but according to information found on the 1910 United States Census, Andrew Grover Frye and Minnie M. Tullus had been married for one year. They were found living in Claiborne, Bienville, Ouachita, Morehouse, and Bastrop Parishes in Louisiana. 

Andrew Grover Frye died at age 72 and is buried in Pine Grove South Cemetery in Bastrop Parish. His obituary can be seen below. 


If you want to know more about the families I research, click here to like my Facebook page where you will see each post and other genealogical finds. 

Diana
© 2020 

Sources 

"Andy Grover Frye." The Monroe News-Star 67, no.114 (1959): 5. 

Family photographs from the Frye Family collection. Accessed June 6, 2016 and June 3, 2019. Used with permission.

Louisiana, Claiborne Parish. 1900 U. S. Census, population schedule. Database with images. Ancestry. https://www.ancestry.com : 2020. 

Louisiana, Claiborne Parish. 1910U. S. Census, population schedule. Database with images. Ancestry. https://www.ancestry.com : 2020. 

Louisiana, Bienville Parish. 1920 U. S. Census, population schedule. Database with images. Ancestry. https://www.ancestry.com : 2020. 

Louisiana, Ouatchita Parish. 1930 U. S. Census, population schedule. Database with images. Ancestry. https://www.ancestry.com : 2020. 

Louisiana, Morehouse Parish. 1940 U. S. Census, population schedule. Database with images. Ancestry. https://www.ancestry.com : 2020. 


Wednesday, November 25, 2020

Was your Giddens a Merchant?

Good things come to those who blog/share! This good luck token was
received by Lillian C. Gauer at my great-grandfather's store in
St. Louis, Missouri. The penny is dated 1947. Her granddaughter
shared the photos and sent me the token after finding my blog post
about Charles Giddens' store in St. Louis. 


Was it common to find people with the surname Giddens owning or working in stores? I ask this question as when I research the Giddens family, I frequently find merchant listed as an occupation. In my Giddens family, Mitchell Giddens, my 3rd great-grandfather, made and sold shoes. My 2nd  great-grandfather, George Giddens, has been found owning stores in three North Carolina counties and, my great-grandfather, Charles Giddens sold men's clothing and shoes in his stores in Virginia, New Jersey, and Missouri. Cousins and other extended family members were also merchants.

George Lullen Giddens, my 2nd great-grandfather, wrote this receipt on
December 28, 1884. At this time, he may have owned a store in
Duplin County or Sampson County in North Carolina. 



Occupations are not found recorded on the United States Census until 1850. A look at heads of households named Giddens on the 1850, 1860, 1870, 1880, 1900, and 1910 United States Census population schedules answered my question. There were only three merchants with the name Giddens in 1850 and six in 1860. Of the thirteen Giddens merchants found in 1870, at least five were connected to my North Carolina Giddens family. 

Friday, November 20, 2020

Friday's Photo: A Quinn Cousin Identified

I posted about this photo twice in May of 2013. It is one of those unlabeled photos that my father-in-law (William Quinn #3) knew was one of his cousins, but he wasn't sure which cousin. Due to dates and location, I thought it could be Francis Meehan, one of his first cousins from the Murray family. 

I was wrong. A newly found Quinn cousin identified him as John "Jackie" O'Brien son of Nora Quinn and John O'Brien Sr. The cousin remembered the photo as it hung for years on her Aunt Nora's wall. 

This cousin was born in 1932 and knows so much about the Quinn family living in NYC. If I had found her 20 years earlier, I wouldn't have had to do so much research to find family. 

John "Jack" O'Brien Jr. was my father-in-law's second cousin. Honor "Nora" Quinn was the daughter of Andrew Quinn and Margaret Flannagan of Caheravoneen, Kinvara, County Galway. Andrew Quinn was the brother of William Quinn (#1) who also lived in Carheravoneen. 

This wonderful cousin also talked about Nora's sisters, Bridget "Delia" Quinn and Mary Quinn Sarsfield both of who lived in New York. The list below shows the names of Andrew Quinn and Margaret Flanagan's children as found at the Galway Family History Center.   

         
Mary Quinn was born on October 19, 1884.

James Quinn was born on November 11, 1885.

Bridget Quinn was born on January 04, 1887.

Patrick Quinn was born on February 08, 1888. He married Mary Conroy in New Quay Church on February 28, 1927.

John Quinn was born on February 13, 1889.

Honor Quinn was born on February 17, 1890. 

Margaret Quinn was born about October 12, 1891. She married Mortimer Ryder on February 23, 1933, in Kinvara.

Catherine Quinn was born on May 09, 1893. 

Michael Quinn was born on June 29, 1894.

If you want to know more about the families I research, click here to like my Facebook page where you will see each post and other genealogical finds. 

Diana
© 2020 

Sources 

John "Jackie" O'Brien. Photograph, ca. 1937. Privately held by D. B. Quinn [ADDRESS FOR PRIVATE USE,] Virginia Beach, Virginia. 

O'Mahony, Teresa. Teresa to Diana, 2002. Letter privately held by D. B. Quinn [ADDRESS FOR PRIVATE USE,] Virginia Beach, Virginia.  

Saturday, November 14, 2020

Clippings from The Baylor County Banner - Seymour, Texas - March 1, 1923




My grandparents, Redic E. Bryan and Myrtie Hairston, and my great-grandparent's, Phillip A. Hairston and Lodema Criswell, moved to Baylor County in 1905. My father, Whit Criswell Bryan, was born in Seymour in 1920. He was the youngest of seven children born to Redic and Myrtie. Redic and Myrtie died in the 1920s and my father moved, along with his sisters, to Borger, Texas. 

In April 2019, I visited the Texas State Library and Archives to read Baylor County Banner issues that could not be found online or on microfilm. I photographed articles with information about my father's family who lived in Seymour. While sorting through my family finds, I realized I had photos of articles that might interest others looking for family. I have pictures of numerous articles from 1923 and a few from other years. I will post as time allows. 

Thank you to Matt Gwinn at the Baylor County Banner for giving me permission to post these clippings.  











If you want to know more about the families I research, click here to like my Facebook page where you will see each post and other genealogical finds. 


Diana


© 2020

Sources

Harrison, O. C. The Baylor County Banner. (Seymour, TX.), Vol. 27*, No. 23. 1 Mar 1923. Print. Accessed 15 April 2019. 

*Note that January and February issues were part of Vol. 28. This and all March and April issues were printed as Vol. 27. In May, it goes back to Vol. 28. 

Friday, November 13, 2020

Friday's Photo: Joseph Thomas "Tom" Page and his wife, Dora Davis Page


 Joseph Thomas "Tom" Page and his wife, Dora Davis Page




Dora Davis Page was the sister of my great-grandmother, Bertha Davis Hawkins. Her mother was Olive Caroline Davis, the daughter of Seth H. Davis and Margaret "Peggy" Jones. Her father is not known. Dora was born in Edmonson County, Kentucky where she married Joseph Thomas Page at age 13. Tom Page was born in Hart County. During their marriage, Tom and Dora lived in Edmonson, Barren, and Hardin Counties. 








Obituary for Joseph Thomas Page (Aged 80)
Obituary for Joseph Thomas Page (Aged 80) Tue, May 9, 1939 – Page 17 · The Courier-Journal (Louisville, Kentucky) · Newspapers.com  

If you want to know more about the families I research, click here to like my Facebook page where you will see each post and other genealogical finds.

Diana
© 2020 

Sources 

Tom and Dora Page. Photograph, ca. 1926. Privately held by E. M. Bryan [ADDRESS FOR PRIVATE USE,] Virginia Beach, Virginia. 

"Deaths." The Courier-Journal 169, no.25,696 (1939): 17. Newspapers.com.

"Mrs. Dora Page dies Sunday in local hospital." The Reporter-Times, no.136 (1975): 8. Newspapers.com.

Thursday, November 12, 2020

George Lullen Giddens, a Merchant from North Carolina


According to his Confederate service record, George Lullen Giddens was tall (6'1/2"), earned his living as a merchant, and was born in Wayne County, North Carolina. 

George was born on September 12, 1840.  His parents were Mitchell Giddens and Letisha Britt. The 1840 census places the Mitchell Giddens family as living in the Buck Swamp District of Wayne County. Mitchell was a shoemaker and the son of John Giddens and his wife, Sally. Letisha was the daughter of William C. Britt and Patience Bell. 

In 1850, the Giddens family was living in Duplin County and it was reported that on December 18, 1852, Mitchell Giddens, father of George, died. His burial place is currently unknown. George had siblings John William, Sarah Jane, James Thomas, Patience Elizabeth, Henry Clay, David Crockett, Mary Susan, Bryant Rustus (also seen as Rustus Westly), and Sophia Alice.