31 Oct 2010 - Conundrum

Since finding out about my new cousin, my interest has been sparked once again concerning my paternal lineage.  Today I went looking at the hints on ancestry.com for Lillie SUTPHIN, as she has been the center of attention lately.

I don't generally like to use ancestry.com's hints because they are most often just telling me that there's someone else out there who has the same person in their family tree.  It's not that I don't want to know about other potential relatives, but I know that there are a lot of people out there who are probably like I was - excited.  And when you get excited, you might not realize that just adding other people's findings may not be the best idea.  

Whenever my curiosity gets the better of me, I'll sometimes check out the others who have added my people to their family tree.  If they have a significant amount of sources attached, then I feel like they probably are serious are trying to back up their research with evidence.  In that case, sometimes I will compare the sources that they have to the ones I have.  In doing so with Lillie, I ran into conflicting evidence.

For a long time in my records, Lillie's place of birth was "Georgia."  I got that information from census records:

1900 Census

(Image by ancestry.com)

1910 Census

(Image by ancestry.com)

However, after I recently took a closer look at her death certificate, it claims she was born in Chatham County, NC.  That's quite a difference!

Certificate of Death

(Image by ancestry.com)

I have heard or read that sometimes records can be inaccurate, and I suppose there's a chance that whomever gave the information for the death certificate might not have known that she was born in Georgia.  Plus, I figure that since she was alive for the two censuses, probably gave that information herself, and its two instances of the same information, it sounds a little more reliable.  I reckon I'll have to do a little more research on that!

Another New Cousin!

One of the things I enjoy most about the process of researching genealogy is how you get to meet others who share your interest and even come in contact with people you are distantly related to. The latter happened recently, and what followed was THE thing I enjoy most about genealogy research: PICTURES!!!

Lillie Hope SUTPHIN CREED and

Arizona Marie CREED

I don't think I ever had a middle name for Arizona before.

L to R: (back row) John "Johnny" W. CREED, Alonza "Lonnie" Wheeler CREED,

William Walter CREED

(front row) Arizona Marie CREED, Evie LaMyra CREED THRIFT,

Mary Elizabeth "Betty" BOULDIN CREED, George Washington CREED,

(partial) Pearl (William Walter CREED's wife)

These are the children of John L. CREED and Lillie H. SUTPHIN CREED.

L to R: Mary Elizabeth "Betty" CREED BOULDIN, Evie LaMyra CREED THRIFT, Lillie Hope SUTPHIN CREED, William Walter CREED, Alonza "Lonnie" Wheeler CREED, Arizona Marie CREED

Some of the siblings with their mother.

The John L. CREED Family

I am so excited! I love getting to put faces with names! :-)

All of the photographs here, as well as corresponding names were generously provided by my newfound cousin, Mark BRISTOL.

11 July 2010

After being without it for quite some time, I finally convinced Joey to let me renew my subscription to ancestry.com. Back in October, I had a 14-day free trial, but long before that (I believe it was 2006), I had an actual subscription for a full year that came free with the Family Tree Maker Software I received as a Christmas gift. Until now, I have never actually paid for a subscription, but as a sale/promotion for Independence day, subscriptions were 20% off.

A month ago, mom, Jess and I looked through Grandma CREED's cedar chest again. It had been years since looking at her belongings, and the first time since I got serious about my genealogy. Inside we found some truly priceless treasures!

• Grandma CREED's baby book - perhaps written in Great-Grandma Gladys SUMNER CREED's handwriting!
• Uncle Dennis' baby book.
• Grandma's wallet - as it was when she passed away - that contained "useful" photos.
• An LP record of a gospel group from Fries, VA.
• And my favorite - a box of old postcards written to Great-Grandma Gladys.

I suppose I vaguely remember being told at one point that Gladys died from Tuberculosis, but somehow I had not ever recorded that piece of information. Mom reminded me of it as we were looking at the postcards. One of the postcards was written by Great-Grandpa Roby CREED and was addressed to Gladys at the Catawba Sanatorium in Virginia.

Apparently, she was being treated there for a while before she died. The postcard was mailed in 1943 and Gladys died in 1945. I am not certain, at this point, whether she died at the hospital or at home.

The Catawba Sanatorium, I have found through online research, was once known as the Roanoke Red Sulphur Springs Resort. I have even found some photos of it. Today it is Catawba Hospital - a mental health hospital. None of the original buildings remain, but several articles mention a fountain built over the springs that stands under a gazebo and is still on the grounds of the hospital. It is said that there are names of former patients on the fountain, but I have yet to find a documented list of those names. I suppose I will have to go and visit it myself one day and see if Gladys' name is among them.