Dates of Statehoods – Alphabetical

State		Date of Statehood
Alabama		December 14, 1819
Alaska		January 03, 1959
Arizona		February 14, 1912
Arkansas		June 15, 1836
California		September 09, 1850
Colorado		August 01, 1876
Connecticut		January 09, 1788
Delaware		December 07, 1787
Florida		March 03, 1845
Georgia		January 02, 1788
Hawaii		August 21, 1959
Idaho		July 03, 1890
Illinois		December 03, 1818
Indiana		December 11, 1816
Iowa		December 28, 1846
Kansas		January 29, 1861
Kentucky		June 01, 1792
Louisiana		April 30, 1812
Maine		March 15, 1820
Maryland		April 28, 1788
Massachusetts		February 06, 1788
Michigan		January 26, 1837
Minnesota		May 11, 1858
Mississippi		December 10, 1817
Missouri		August 10, 1821
Montana		November 08, 1889
Nebraska		March 01, 1867
Nevada		October 31, 1864
New Hampshire		June 21, 1788
New Jersey		December 18, 1787
New Mexico		January 06, 1912
New York		July 26, 1788
North Carolina		November 21, 1789
North Dakota		November 02, 1889
Ohio		March 01, 1803
Oklahoma		November 16, 1907
Oregon		February 14, 1859
Pennsylvania		December 12, 1787
Rhode Island		May 29, 1790
South Carolina		May 23, 1788
South Dakota		November 02, 1889
Tennessee		June 01, 1796
Texas		December 29, 1845
Utah		January 04, 1896
Vermont		March 04, 1791
Virginia		June 25, 1788
Washington		November 11, 1889
West Virginia		June 20, 1863
Wisconsin		May 29, 1848
Wyoming		July 10, 1890

Following the Hennington's to Burnt Corn, Alabama

Down Federal Road in Burnt Corn, Alabama

Among the many enjoyable things about researching your family, is to travel to the area they once lived. While it may not look as it did in their time, you can hopefully get a feel for the area. If it has remained  a rural countryside, chances are, not that much may have changed.

A few weeks ago while traveling to Mississippi, we stopped in Burnt Corn, Alabama in Monroe County. That county was once home to Harper Lee (To Kill a Mocking Bird) and Truman Capote (In Cold Blood). They were childhood friends and lived in nearby Monroeville during the 1930's.

Our trek to Burnt Corn, was to investigate this very small rural area in southwest Alabama. During the 1800's  the town was thriving and the land was prime for cotton growers, including some from my own Hennington family.  Rev. William Hennington was also a circuit preacher in Monroe and Wilcox counties. His mother and two brothers  (both Methodist preachers) moved on to Copiah County, Mississippi.

Old casket factory and general store 

Burnt Corn today is listed as a ghost town, although there are some residents nearby and scattered along the rolling hills on the way to Monroeville and Evergreen, Alabama. The main road that runs through the center of the town, was once the Federal Road. Originally the town began as a trading post settlement at an intersection of Indian trails on the 'Old Wolf Path.' This horse path, became the Federal Road, and was used as a migration trail for western migration of settlers.

Burnt Corn Post Office

Deserted buildings along the Federal Road are the old barber shop, general store (doubling as the post office) a casket factory, Brantley's Store (with the Coca Cola sign still clearly visable), and additional out buildings. We were the only ones in Burnt Corn that day - which made it really feel like a ghost town.

For an extra glimpse of Burnt Corn, follow this You Tube video at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ptx9Pp4ggIA&feature=youtu.be

(photos by Larry Van Horn)

Remains of a Little Girl in a Forgotten Casket are Identifiied

Construction workers inspect a long-forgotten casket (Ericka Karner)

Mystery solved: Remains of girl in forgotten casket was daughter of prominent San Francisco family 

This story combines detective work, genealogy, DNA, and public records.
A little girl about 3 years old died and was buried about 140 years ago in an unmarked metal casket in a wealthy San Francisco neighborhood. When workers recently discovered her elaborate coffin beneath a concrete slab, there were no markings or gravestone to say who she was. A team of scientists, amateur sleuths and history buffs worked tirelessly to solve the central question in this Bay Area mystery: Who was the little girl in the casket?
She has now been identified. The girl’s DNA was matched to that of a relative now living in San Rafael.
The story of the investigation is intriguing. Investigators found a scale plan of the cemetery development in 1865 at the Bancroft Library at UC Berkeley. That provided an approximate location of the grave.

Thanks to the Internet and a culture of open records that existed from the 17th century to the 1960's, amateur genealogists were able to tap centuries of records of censuses, births, marriages, properties and deaths to trace up and down each candidates’ family tree. The whole effort took three people 3,000 hours, said Elissa Davey, who spearheaded the search for Edith’s identity.
You can read the entire story in an article by Joseph Serna in the Los Angeles Times web site at: http://lat.ms/2q4oflt.

My thanks to newsletter reader Ed Dietz for telling me about this story.
(Eastman Online Genealogy newsletter)

Honoring My Irish Ancestors

Thank you on this special St. Patrick's Day, to my many Irish ancestors, who left their homes in Ireland to begin a new path in America. Lt. James Delay, James, Robert, and John Mc Quiston. Col. William Gilbert - all who all fought valiantly in the American Revolution. Maurice Fitzgerald of County Wexford, as well as the families of Eakin, McMillian, O'Dear, O'Quinn, St. Legar, Funsten, Irving, Hood, de Audley, Carisle, Le Longespee, Bates, Coots and many more through the ages. Go raibh maith agat !

Honoring the 36th Mississippi Infantry and Pvt. William Garrison Hennington

36th Mississippi Battle Flag

My great grandfather, William Garrison Hennington, served in the 36th MS Infantry, throughout the Civil War. Today's post is to honor him, his service and in the regiment.  

William Garrison Hennington

Mississippi 36th Infantry Regiment. Organized in early 1862. Regiment surrendered at Vicksburg, Warren County, Mississippi on July 4, 1863. Paroled at Vicksburg…July 1863. Declared exchanged on September 12, 1863. Surrendered by Lt Richard Taylor, commanding the Department of Alabama, Mississippi, and East Louisiana, at Citronelle, Alabama on May 4, 1865.

First Commander, Colonel Drury J. Brown.
Field Officers: Lt Col Edward Brown, Lt Col S G Harper, Major Charles Partin, Major William W Witherspoon, Major Alexander Yates.

Assignments:
Chalmers’ Brigade, Withers’ Division, 2nd Corps, Army of the Mississippi, Department #2 (April 1862)

Anderson’s Brigade, Ruggles’ Division, 2nd Corps, Army of the Mississippi, Department #2 (May 1862)

Chalmers’ Brigade, Withers’ Division, 2nd Corps, Army of the Mississippi, Department #2 (May 1862)

Martin’s Brigade, Little’s-Hebert’s Division, Price’s Corps, Army of West Tennessee, Department #2 (September-October 1862)

Martin’s Brigade, Hebert’s-Maury’s Division, Price’s Corps, Army of West Tennessee, Department of Mississippi and East Louisiana (October 1862)

Hebert’s Brigade, Maury’s Division, 2nd Military District, Department of Mississippi and East Louisiana (December 1862-April 1863)

Hebert’s Brigade, Maury’s-Forney’s Division, Department of Mississippi and East Louisiana (April-July 1863)

Mackall’s Brigade, Department of the Gulf (February 1864)

Baldwin’s [old-]Sears’ Brigade, Department of Alabama, Mississippi, an East Louisiana (March-May 1864)

Sear’s Brigade, Army of the Mississippi (May 1864)

Sear’s Brigade, French’s Division, Army of the Mississippi (May-July 1864)

Sear’s Brigade, French’s Division, 3rd Corps, Army of the Tennessee (July 1864-January 1865)

Sear’s Brigade, French’s Division, District of the Gulf, Department of Alabama, Mississippi, and East Louisiana (January-April 1865)

Sear’s Brigade, French’s Division, Department of Alabama, Mississippi, and East Louisiana (April-May 1865)

Battles: Corinth Campaign (April-June 1862); Farmington (May 1862); Iuka (September 19, 1862); Corinth (October 3-4, 1862); Vicksburg Campaign (May-July 1863); Vicksburg Siege (May-July 1863); Atlanta Campaign (May-September 1864); Cassville (May 19-22, 1864); New Hope Church (May 25-June 4, 1864); Lattimer’s Mills (June 20, 1864); Kennesaw Mountain (June 27, 1864); Smyrna Campground (July 4, 1864); Chattahoochee River (July 5-7, 1864); Peach Tree Creek (July 20, 1864); Atlanta (July 22, 1864); Ezra Church (July 28, 1864); Atlanta Siege (July-September 1864); Jonesboro (August 31-September 1, 1864); Lovejoy’s Station (September 2-5, 1864); Allatoona (October 5, 1864); Franklin (November 15-16, 1864); Nashville (December 15-16, 1864); Mobile (March 17-April 12, 1865)

How to Use Evernote to be a Better Genealogist

If your not using Evernote, to complement your researching, Dick Eastman has some terrific information. A big thanks to him for his Plus Edition information.
GVH


The following is an update to a Plus Edition article I published several years ago. Some of the information has changed since the original article was published. I have updated the article and am re-publishing it today.

The following is a Plus Edition article written by and copyright by Dick Eastman. 

One of my favorite computer tools is Evernote. I’ve been using it for more than six years now and love it. Sometimes I wonder how I ever got along before Evernote. While Evernote has many uses, I use it primarily as a digital filing system. In fact, I find that it is a perfect complement to almost any genealogy program, often compensating for the shortcomings of whatever genealogy program you might use to track your research.

Admittedly, all this didn’t happen overnight. When first installed, Evernote presents the new user with a blank screen. That user typically says, “Now what?” This article will hopefully answer that question.

First, let’s clarify what this program can do for you. Simply put, Evernote helps you organize and retrieve information. Remember when you purchased your first computer? The salesperson told you it would organize and retrieve everything from your kitchen recipes to your income tax records. That salesperson probably didn’t mislead you; he simply was talking about the future. The hardware has been available for years and has been sold in computer stores everywhere. What has been missing until recently was the easy-to-use software: Evernote.


To be sure, dozens of database programs and other retrieval programs have been available for years. Most database programs, including your present genealogy program, have been hobbled with rigid design requirements: data has to be entered in certain formats or the programs were designed for very specific purposes. Evernote represents a new method of databases: those with free-form data. You can store and easily retrieve text notes, sound bytes, images, full-motion video, recipes, income tax records, insurance documents, saved web pages, and more. Even your recipes and your genealogy data can be stored. They can both be stored in the same database or in separate databases, as you prefer. 

Even better, if you own two or more computers, such as a desktop and a laptop system or a computer at the office plus a second at home, Evernote makes sure that all your data is available simultaneously on all your computers. In fact, it even makes the same information available on Windows, Macintosh, iPhones, iPads, Android devices, Blackberry, and Windows Phone devices, in addition to any web browser on a borrowed computer or at the library or in an Internet cafe. Your latest data is available at all times on all devices.

The remainder of this article is for Plus Edition subscribers only and will remain in the Plus Edition subscribers’ web site for several weeks. SUBSCRIBE NOW to read this article.

There are three different methods of viewing the full Plus Edition article:

1. If you have a Plus Edition user ID and password, you can read the full article right now at no additional charge in this web site’s Plus Edition at http://eogn.com/wp/?p=42347. This article will remain online for several weeks.

If you do not remember your Plus Edition user ID or password, you can retrieve them at http://www.eogn.com/wp/ and click on “Forgot password?”

2. If you do not have a Plus Edition subscription but would like to subscribe, you will be able to immediately read this article online. What sort of articles can you read in the Plus Edition? Click here to find out. For more information or to subscribe, goto https://blog.eogn.com/subscribe-to-the-plus-edition.

3. Non-subscribers may purchase this one article without subscribing for $2.00 US. You may purchase the article by clicking here. Payment can be made with VISA, MasterCard, American Express, Discover Card, or with PayPal’s safe and secure payment system.  You can then either read the article on-screen or else download it to your computer and save it.

(Dick Eastman)

Zadock Ford ... a work in progress

Zadock Ford was reportedly a Rev. War soldier, from Maryland, whose records have been approved by the DAR. After the war, Zadock served as a justice, in the earliest courts of Spartanburg County, SC. He owned a mill and a good bit of property in the area. His will is dated 1801 and Cassandra, his wife, is said to have died Oct. 31, 1831. The names of Zadock's and Cassandra's children were given in a DAR application; and from other records we have birth dates and marriages. There is no Samuel listed, but John, born 1790 to 1800, married Sara Johnson. One reason we believe Samuel and John to be the same person is that there was a John Ford shown in an 1856, Spartanburg land dispute, among the heirs of Zadock Ford. The children of Zadock's deceased son, John, were said to be in GA, and were listed as Andrew, Jane, John, and Millie. Millie's married name, Martin, was given, and her husband, Bird Martin."

The above paragraph is from "History of Gwinnett Co., Georgia." Several documents at the Gwinnett Co. courthouse list John and Sarah. This is the only source that even mentions "Samuel." Apparently it appeared in family records.
The same researcher who gave the above information suggests either of two people as the earliest known Ford in the Gwinnett County Ford line: William Foard, seen in Prince George County, Maryland, in 1790; or James Ford, Capt., in the South Carolina Provincial Militia. James owned 150 acres in Union County, SC, and probably came from Virginia. Apparently she found no records to prove connection to either of these two men.
We have not checked the DAR application nor any of the original sources relative to the names of Zadock's children.
Another researcher, Susan Ford, believes Zadock's father was William Ford who married Jemima Callum March 17, 1751/52 in Smithfield Township, Providence, Rhode Island. She says that Zadock was born September 21, 1752, in Rhode island and died April 9, 1801 in Spartansburg, South Carolina.
Notes from Susan Ford: Zadock Ford was reportedly a Rev. War soldier, from Maryland. After the war, Zadock served as a justice, in the earliest courts of Spartanburg County, South Carolina. He owned a mill and good bit of property in the area. His will is dated 1801.

Note from Rachel Hill (rshill@mindspring.com): "There were two Zadock Fords in the Rev. War. One was from CT and married Eunice Bridges. Ours was in the 7th Co. Maryland Militia - Montgomery Co. (I do not have the war records yet.) My theory is that our Zadock is the illegitimate child of John Cook and Mary Ford. Zadock Ford was listed as "next of kin" to John Cook,Jr. along with Mary Cook (mother of John Cook) in "Abstracts of the inventories of the Prerogative Court of Maryland 1772-1774. In John Cook Sr's will his son John was disowned and left one shilling sterling. In "This was the Life" by Millard Milburn Rice (Excerpts from the Judgment Records of Frederick County, Maryland 1748-1765) is the following: "Elizabeth Boyd swears in Court that John Cook was the father of her baseborn child." somewhere I have a document that states that Mary Ford had an Illegitimate child, but the father is not named. This is all theory but I can't find anything else. Also on the list of the 7th Maryland Militia John Cook and Zadock Ford's names are together.

Children of Zadock Ford and Cassandra Trail:
Rachel
Zadock
Nancy
Westwood
Cassandra
William
John Sanuel