Reminiscing about old times

    A few mornings ago southwest Texas was seeing a little rain. It reminded me of days I'd spent many years ago in the Texas Hill country scrapbooking with friends. 

     Photos are what started my genealogy journey in 1996. My maternal grand-momie had lots of old family photos she'd been given after she'd lost everything in two house fires. 

     Many of the photos were labeled with names. THANK YOU, Grand-momie! Names of people I never heard of. 

     That's all I needed to start my scrapbooking and genealogy journey. I'm happy to say many of those un-named photos now have names. 

     I continued "scrapping" with my friends until about 10 years ago. I miss those days. Some friends have passed on. Some I see in my town. Some I stay in contact with through social media.

     Below is one of my favorite groups in Round Top, Texas in 2009. 

    Are you a scrapbooker-genealogist? Let me know if you scrapbook your genealogy journey.

    - Revis

Family Tree "Grabbers" - I used to be one, too (Oh, My!)

      Are you a person that's a "grabber" (tree grabber, that is) at Ancestry, FamilySearch, or other genealogy websites? What's a grabber, you ask? 

    Well, it's someone that just sees a name and puts it in their tree. I saw a post on Facebook a while back that made me laugh. The person said, "I've been doing genealogy for three days, and I'm back to the 1200s!" Comments back to the person were, "So you checked every person as you went back in time?" "Man, you work fast!" "Must be some kind of record."  

    I was laughing at myself because years ago that could have been me. I didn't get very far back, though, because I had a mentor who stopped me when I was getting ahead of myself. I am thankful for her guidance.   

    Have you seen a name and looked at the birth date and said to yourself, "Oh, my gosh, there he/she is" and added them to your tree without looking at the actual documents or records? 

    Did you look at the original documents to make sure that he/she was - say - born in Tennessee and died in Texas? Because if the person you put in your tree was from Kentucky (on all records, well documented, born, married, died there) and you're searching for a "Tennessee to Texas" ancestor, you just put the wrong person in your family tree. 

    First, you have to look at the original records/documents at Ancestry, FamilySearch, etc.

    Second, don't get in a hurry. We want the answers to our genealogy questions "right now", but the reality is sometimes it's just not that easy. Oh, I wish it was!

    Third, I'm on "do-overs" even now. I'm sure I have more corrections to make, and if anyone sees a mistake, please, please, let me know so I can correct it.  

    Fourth, I want my trees to be accurate. I want the timelines of my ancestors to be correct as I view where they were in time and where they lived. 

    Don't you want yours to be correct, too? I think you do. 

    WARNING - I'm going to note in my trees in capital letters who the parents of certain people ARE NOT. I hope that helps researchers stop and look closely at the records. I've left notes at various trees over the years, and then quit, but I'm starting again. If the tree owner doesn't check out the discrepancies, at least maybe other researchers will. 

    And yes, I hope you leave notes to me, too, so I can correct my mistakes of the past. 

    We owe it to our people, or at least I feel that I do. Let's at least get their lives "right" according to the records we can find. I think we can do that, don't you? 

- Revis 

    

Happy Father's Day, Daddy!

 Today is Father's Day 2023. I miss my daddy. He's been gone just over two years. 

If you are fortunate enough to still have your dad, hug him. 

I thank God that I was blessed to have a caring, loving daddy. 

This afternoon I decided to ask ChatGPT to write a poem for me about my father. 

I'm in the Facebook group, Genealogy and Artificial Intelligence. I read all the posts and learn a lot from the people posting who know more about AI than I ever will,

but I have not had much time to try out ChatGPT. 

Below is a video of my daddy at 80+ years old playing the piano with neuropathy in both his hands and feet. He played the piano at the nursing home a few days before he died in 2021 at the age of 88. He was a cotton farmer most of his life, graduating from high school early and going to Texas Tech to graduate with a degree in Agriculture, and a Korean veteran who came back to the red dirt of Fisher County, Texas, to farm "dryland" cotton. 

Check out the poem ChatGPT wrote for me. I did not revise it in any way. 

It pretty much described my daddy to a "T", as we say in Texas. 

My Dad, Forever Remembered (by ChatGPT) 

In fields of cotton, he toiled and toiled, A father strong, his spirit coiled. With hands that labored in the sun's embrace, He nurtured life with tender grace.

A farmer's heart, so deeply sown, His faith in God, forever known. Through sweat and tears, he faced the strife, Guided by his unwavering belief in life.

Rows of white, like clouds in the sky, His dreams took flight, reaching up so high. A father's love, a timeless refrain, Forever etched in memory's domain.

With calloused hands and a gentle touch, He taught us lessons that meant so much. In furrowed fields, he sowed the seeds, And in our hearts, his wisdom bleeds.

He taught us strength, he taught us grace, In every step, his presence we trace. Though his voice may fade like an echo's end, His legacy, as cotton, shall forever transcend.

For in the fibers of our souls, we find, The faith he instilled, so pure, so kind. A Christian man, with spirit true, He walks beside us, in all we do.

On this Father's Day, we pause to say, Though you're no longer here, we pray. Your memory blooms, like cotton's white, A beacon of love, forever bright.

In fields of cotton, we see your face, In every sunbeam's warm embrace. A farmer's spirit, a Christian's heart, Your love, dear father, shall never depart.

Yes, I miss my daddy. Forever until we meet again. 

- Revis

Wordless Wednesday - Uvalde

 

Happy Mother's Day 2023, Iris!

This Mother's Day, I'm giving a shout out to my direct female line ancestors. These are the women from whom I received my mitochondial DNA (mtDNA) or "female DNA".

My mtDNA haplogroup is I2, a subclade of haplogroup I, sometimes called "IRIS".  Haplogroup I is one of the older mtDNA haplogroups in Europe and it's relatively rare. My mtDNA is part of the mtDNA Haplogroup I Project at Family Tree DNA. 

Happy Mother's Day, "Iris"! 

- Revis

Wordless Wednesday - Col Abel Kolb

 

The Historical Marker Database

 My 1C6R (first cousin six times removed) 

 Happy Ancestor Sleuthing!

- Revis 

 

Valentine's Day 2023

Today is Valentine's Day 2023. I was thinking about the excitement as a kid of taking Valentine's to school for classmates. Would I get candy? Do you remember these "Sweetheart" candies? You can still buy these "full of sugar" hearts! 

Going through my never-ending stash of photographs and memoraphilia, which my mother kept for years, I came across this Valentine that my sister and I sent to my maternal Grandmomie, Eva Nell Stuart Dennis. 

Do you remember giving Valentine's to your parents or grandparents? Girlfriend/boyfriend? Best friends? Did you give candy or flowers?

From my furry buddies (Callie and DT) to all of you, I wish you a Happy Valentine's Day!  

- Revis