Friday's Photo: Claude Louis Davis at the U.S.S. Franklin

Claude Louis Davis  1893 - 1967

A few weeks ago, I received my grandfather's 46-page military record from the  National Archives at Saint Louis. It answered so many of my questions. My grandfather, 22-year-old Claude Louis Davis from Edmonson County, Kentucky, enlisted in the United States Navy on 10 February 1915 at the Navy Recruiting Station in Cincinnati, Ohio, and served for almost four years. 

On 4 March 1915, he was stationed on the U.S.S. Franklin, a receiving ship in Norfolk, Virginia, that housed recruits while they were at  St. Helena Naval Training Station. The record indicated that he was in the Naval Hospital in Norfolk beginning on 26 March for about five days. On the back of the above photo, my mother wrote that it was taken soon after he recovered from the measles, so that probably explains his time in the hospital. His record shows his rate as CP (Coal Passer). He remained on the U.S.S. Franklin until May or June of 1915. 

 

Receiving ship, U.S.S Franklin, Norfolk, Virginia - 1907

As I live in the Hampton Roads area, where there are many military bases and where my grandfather was stationed, I was very curious about the location of the St. Helena Naval Training Station. For those family members familiar with the area, I learned it was in the Berkley area. A friend who lives in that area said there is now an elementary school named St. Helena where the Naval Training Station once stood. 

You can read the following newspaper clippings to learn more about the St. Helena Naval Training Station. 

St. Helena as a Training Station

Here And There - The end of the old St. Helena Naval Training Station

Old Days at the St Helena Naval Training Station

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

© 2024 

Claude Louis Davis, photograph, 1915; digital image, from the privately held photo collection of D.B. Quinn, 2024.

Davis, Claud Louis, Official Military Personnel File, United States Navy, File No. 001303506, Record Group 024, National Archives - Saint Louis.

"UA 460.29 USS Franklin (1864) Collection," Naval History and Heritage Command (https://www.history.navy.mil/our-collections/photography/alphabetical---donations0/f/ua-460-29-uss-franklin--1864--collection-.html : accessed 26 June 2024). 

Friday's Photo: Happy Birthday to my Mother and her Sister

It's June again, and we are celebrating the birthdays of my mother and her sister, who were born in 1932 and 1933, respectively. I hope that I have received that longevity trait!

Happy Birthday Mom, and Aunt Janet! I love this photo of both of you. 

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

© 2024 

Don't rely on your family tree software for timelines - DIY!

FamilySearch, Ancestry, and some family tree software will generate timelines for your research but viewing a timeline generated by software isn't as beneficial as Doing It Yourself.  Writing or typing the information into a spreadsheet, table, or even a narrative is a critical thinking exercise. As you enter the events into your timeline, you organize and reflect on the information, communicate ideas, and create stories. All of this will enable you to better identify inconsistencies, errors, and gaps in your research and set the stage for your future research plan.

Constructing timelines proves helpful for a variety of projects. Create timelines for individuals, families, land, communities, military service, and more. Utilize formats such as tables, spreadsheets, bullet points, and narratives. At the bare minimum, include the date, event, location, and source. I want to emphasize that last item, the source, as early in my research, I made many timelines without adding adequate sources. Who knew I would want those sources 20 years later! 

Learn more about creating timelines at the following links:

How (and Why) to Make a Genealogy Timeline from Family Tree Magazine (October 2022) details how to create and analyze your timeline. 

Download the Simple Ancestor Timeline Table with Source List made with Excel at Genealogy Decoded. 

In this recent post, Nicole Elder Dyer of Family Locket uses Airtable to create her timeline - Bringing Hidden Clues to Light Through Creating A Timeline.

Lisa Lisson writes that she better internalizes the information when she uses paper and pencil to create her timelines. Read this in her post, Use A Genealogy Timeline To Find Gaps In Your Research. 

Jill Morelli showed various ways to use timelines in Timelines for Analysis and Correlation. 

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

 

© 2024