Wordless Wednesday-Meet Lucinda Montgomery

This was my great great grandmother, Lucinda Montgomery Roberts Muncey McGuire. OK, I will admit that many years ago, some child (hmmm, I wonder who?) drew on the original picture and it was sent in and restored. So, I'm not sure she was a beautiful and serene as she appears in this picture but I like to think so.

Ok, I know that you are busy checking out other Wordless Wednesdays but please bookmark me and drop back some time. This is my genealogy blog. I will be discussing my ancestors and from time to time I will be giving some instructions on how to do your own search. But now, go back to Wordless Wednesday and have a happy day.

Enjoy more Wordless Wednesdays at Wordless Wednesday and 5 Minutes for Mom

Wordless Wednesday-Sibs

I have always LOVED this picture. It is a picture of my mom, Opal Clark, and her big brother, Clifton, taken in 1908.

Ok, I know that you are busy checking out other Wordless Wednesdays but please bookmark me and drop back some time. This is my genealogy blog. I will be discussing my ancestors and from time to time I will be giving some instructions on how to do your own search. But now, go back to Wordless Wednesday and have a happy day.

Enjoy more Wordless Wednesdays at Wordless Wednesday and 5 Minutes for Mom

My Dad's Mom-Amanda Jane Sayers

Boy, I didn't realize how hard it would be to keep up with two blogs. It's been awhile since I posted (except for Wordless Wednesday) about some genealogy stuff. So, back to my family.

My dad's mom was Amanda Jane Sayers. She was born December 16, 1856 in Marshall County, West Virginia (actually Virginia at the time.) She married my grandfather, Edwin Amos Brooks on April 12, 1877 in Ritchie County, West Virginia. She died November 21, 1919 in Clarksburg, Harrison County, West Virginia. Her death certificate states that she died from TB. I had heard that she was in and out of mental institutions much of her married life and did in fact find her listed as a patient at the W.Va. Hospital for the Insane in Lewis County, W.Va. in the 1910 census. It was my understanding that she would come home long enough to get pregnant and have a child then would head back to the institution. Now, I'm not sure if this is right or not but she did have 10 children in 22 years.

Amanda Jane was the daughter of William Sayers, Sr. and Elizabeth D. Pearce. William was born about 1814 in Pennsylvania and died between 1880 and 1890 probably in Wirt County, West Virginia. He supposedly was killed by a falling tree. I have never been able to find a death certificate or tombstone for him. According to the 1880 census, both of his parents were born in Ireland. This is where I hit a brick wall as far as tracing this family. I have found various spellings of the name-Sires, Syers, Sayer, etc. I would LOVE to be able to find any of his siblings or his parents.

William married Elizabeth D. Pearce about 1854 in West Virginia. I have found no marriage certificate for them. Elizabeth D. was the daughter of Isaac and Mary (unknown last name) Pearce. Elizabeth was born December 1831 probably in Monroe County, Ohio and died April 1903 in Ritchie County, West Virginia. Elizabeth had 3 siblings-Rachel J. born about 1823 married and divorced Presley J. Martin, John F. Pearce born about 1825 married Louisa Moffitt, and Isaac born about 1825 married Nancy (last name unknown). They all lived in Monroe County, Ohio.

Isaac Pearce, Sr. was born about 1790 in Delaware and died April 29, 1861 in Monroe County, Ohio. His wife, Mary, was born about 1796 in Pennsylvania and died January 15, 1846 in Monroe County. Isaac married #2 Lydia Agin in Monroe County.

Back to Amanda Jane and her sibs.
#1. She had a sister, Mary, born April 14, 1855 and died December 28, 1855 in Marshall County, West Virginia.
#2. Amanda Jane
#3. William Winfield born August 14, 1859 in Marshall County and died January 20, 1928 in Ritchie County, W.Va. He married Ursula Haney and had 6 children, Cora D., Mary Elizabeth, Rosa, William Arthur, Bessie and James F.
#4. Isaac Newton (Pearce?) Sayers born January 1861 in W.Va and died January 3, 1930 in Wood County, W.Va. He was unmarried.
#5. Charles H. Sayers born July 1864 in West Virginia and died after 1930. Probably unmarried.
#6. Child. In 1900 Elizabeth stated that 4 of 6 children were living. This means that there was a 6th child somewhere along the line.

This is all I have on the Sayers and Pearces. No pictures, not much information. It is making me crazy!! I sure would appreciate ANY help on this family.

Wordless Wednesday-My Great Great Grandmother

This is my great great grandmother, Mary Eliza Preston Morgan, in front of her house about 1880.

Ok, I know that you are busy checking out other Wordless Wednesdays but please bookmark me and drop back some time. This is my genealogy blog. I will be discussing my ancestors and from time to time I will be giving some instructions on how to do your own search. But now, go back to Wordless Wednesday and have a happy day.

Enjoy more Wordless Wednesdays at Wordless Wednesday and 5 Minutes for Mom

Genealogy-Getting Started

Mariby mentioned in a comment that she would like to start working on her genealogy but didn’t know where to begin. She hoped that maybe I could give some instructions along the way. Even though I’ve been doing family research for over 40 years now, I don’t feel that I’m really an expert. I can, however, offer some suggestions on how to start and where to go for information.

First off, you need some kind of form to keep your information on or some kind of computer program where you can store your information. When I began, there were no computer programs for genealogy. So I had reams and reams of forms-family group sheets, ancestral charts, census forms etc etc etc. Then I finally got a computer program. The one I started with doesn’t exist anymore but I discovered Family Tree Maker and really like it. I do, however, prefer the 2006 program to the 2008, but if you are just starting out you might really like it. This site, About.com has reviews and such about lots of other programs.

That being said, I would suggest you head over to Ancesty.com. You don't have to be a member to look around. At the top of the page, click on Learning Center (or just click here!) They have lots of tutorials on how to get started. If you click on Getting Started it takes you to a page that does as it says-it gets you started. It also has downloads for those charts that I mentioned above. Really, this site can give you so much more that I can ever tell you here. I wish I had had this when I started out!!

There are other sites which can get you started also-- The National Archives, Genuki (a site featuring the UK and Ireland), Genealogy.com, Rootsweb, Genealogy Today, and on and on. I just google "genealogy getting started" and came up with more sites than I would ever care to visit. Genealogy 101 looks to be another good beginner site.

OK, once you have read everything there is to read on all of those sites, you will probably know more than I do about getting started. But, I would say after that, no matter what all of those sites tell you, start talking to your family members. Write down names (full names!), birth dates and places, marriage dates and places, death dates and places and any other dates which you might like to include (christenings, confirmations, lst communions, naturalizations, etc). If you downloaded and printed out the forms I mentioned above, you can put all this information on these forms. It will make life a lot simpler, believe me. So, now you have your siblings and parents down on a family group form. Then, I would make forms for any of your married siblings and their offspring. Again, get dates, places etc.

Now, on to your grandparents. And if your great grandparents are living--wow, are you in luck!! If any of the grandparents or great grandparents are living, run, don't walk to them and get all of the information they can possibly tell you. Take notes! Don't depend on remembering anything. Ask them about their siblings (dates, places, spouses, kids, etc). Then ask them to tell you everything they can about their parents and grandparents. The more you learn now, the easier it will be later. Write down any family history stories. Sometimes these are worth something and sometimes they aren't. Often, these are just stories that have been embellished over the years and now haven't a shred of truth to them. (Like my g.g.g.g.grandfather's sister who was supposed to be the mother of the great Indian Chief Tecumseh!) But, true or not, they are fun to hear.

If your grandparents aren't living, then ask your parents, aunts, uncles, friends of your grandparents etc to tell you everything they can. Again, write things down. Use those family group sheets.

And---always list sources--whether it be a person, a book, or an online site. I didn't do this for the longest time and I'm paying for it now.

Ok, that's enough for now. Go check out those sites. Then hop back here in a few days and I will give you some more ideas. Have fun. I LOVE doing family research. Genealogy really brings history alive and even if you have a few skeletons in the closet (and yes, I found a few), it makes it all the more interesting.

Old Nick-Brooks Genealogy

I promised in my last post that I would talk about my great great grandfather, Nicholas Brooks Sr. I would love to go back in time and meet many of my ancestors but Nick is the guy I would most like to meet. He must have really been a character.

Nicholas Brooks, Sr. was born in 1751 in Delaware and died in 1859 in Washington County, Ohio at the age of 108. We have never been able to prove who his parents were. My first cousin's daughter hired a professional genealogist at one time and that person felt that his father was John Brooks who died in 1790 in Kent County, Delaware. John was the son of James Brooks who died 1727 in Kent County, Delaware. His children besides John were Moses, Benjamin, Arthur, James, Elinor, and Mary.

I was always told that Nick was married 4 times and had 9 children by each wife. Well he might have been married 4 times but he only had 9 children by his last wife, my g.g.grandmother. A Nicholas Brooks married Edith Trego before 1786 in Pennsylvania. It hasn't been proved but we think this is our Nick. We haven't found any children from this marriage. Then Nick married a Sarah (last name unknown) about 1800 in Rockingham County, Virginia. He had at least one son by Sarah--Alexander William (or Williams) Brooks born about 1802 in Rockingham County. He died in 1870 in Harrison County, West Virginia. Alexander was married 3 times and had several kids but I can't find any descendants of any of them.

Nicholas and Alexander moved to Harrison County before 1810 as I find him in the census there. He is listed as over 45 years of age, his wife is between 26-46 (probably closer to the 26 end) and a son age 0-10 (this would be Alexander). Then I find him in Tyler County, WVa in 1820 with just himself (again over 45--well duh!) and a female (I'm assuming it is Sarah) age 26-45. Probably closer to mid thirties now. No Alexander listed so I'm assuming he had moved out (Kind of like my great grandfather did when he left home at an early age to "fend for himself").

Either Sarah died or she left to fend for herself too, because Nick married a Catherine Fitz in Harrison County in 1824. I never thought they had any children but I later found a Mary born 1826. (See below). Apparently there was a BIG court battle involving Nick and Catherine. I have copies of the original papers but they are sooo hard to read, I can't be sure what happened. Anyway, it seems that Nick and Catherine split.

In 1828, Nick married Sarah Ice (my g.g.grandmother). He was 77 and she was 22!!! Now, I understand that back then you were considered an old maid at 15 but come on folks. Why would anyone marry someone 55 years older? And I know for a fact it wasn't for his money! You see, I found them in 1839 on the County Home Registry in Washington County, Ohio.

Washington County, Ohio Home-Infirmary Register-July 1, 1839
Nicholas Brooks 88, destitute, Grandview July 1839, discharged June 1840, native of Virginia
Sarah Brooks 36, destitute, Grandview July 1839, discharged June 1840, native of Virginia
Mary Brooks 14 destitute, Grandview July 1839, discharged June 1840, native of Virginia
James Brooks 10 destitute, Grandview July 1839, discharged May 8, 1840 native of Virginia
Nich(s) Brooks 8 destitute, Grandview July 1839, discharged May 8, 1840 native of Virginia
E.G. Brooks 6 destitute, Grandview July 1839, discharged May 8, 1840 native of Virginia
B.F. Brooks 3 destitute, Grandview July 1839, discharged May 8, 1840 native of Virginia
R.A. Brooks 2 destitute, Grandview July 1839, discharged May 8, 1840 native of Virginia

Nick died after June 5, 1859 as Nick and Sarah visited my g.grandfather, Nick Jr. on that date. Apparently Nick Sr. worked in the fields even after he turned 100. I guess any guy who can father his last child at age 99 should be able to work the fields too, huh??

We don't really know where Old Nick is buried. We think it is in Cooper Cemetery in Grandview Township in Washington County, Ohio. (Near Marietta and the Ohio River). I visited that cemetery but it is all overgrown and most of the tombstones have fallen, been broken, or are buried.

Nick and Sarah Ice Brooks had 9 children:
1. James born about 1830 in Pleasants Co., W.Va. died before 1870 in Doddridge Co., W.Va. He had two wives, Elizabeth Cope and Elizabeth Bogard (a cousin). He had two daughters, Mary and Sarah.
2. Nicholas Brooks, Sr. b. 1832 Washington Co., Ohio (my great grandfather) who married Eliza Rebecca Dye
3. Elizabeth G. Brooks born abt 1834 in Washington County. Nothing more is known of her.
4. Benjamin Franklin Brooks b. 1836 Washington County. Died 1916 Upshur County, W.Va. Ben was married 2 times-Jemima Isabel Lowe (a cousin) and had 3 children. 2nd marriage to Permelia Smalley and he had 5 children by her. I get the feeling that Uncle Ben was a whole lot like his father.
5. Rebecca Ann Brooks b. 1838 in Washington County died before 1880 probably in Missouri. She married a cousin, Abraham Bogard, and had 4 children.
6. David Brooks born 1840 in Washington County died 1897 in Brown County, Indiana. He married Nancy Jane Pugh and had 2 sons, David and John.
7. Nancy Jane Brooks born about 1842 Washington County died after 1860 but I don't know when or where.
8. Jesse Brooks born about 1845 in Washington County supposedly died in the Civil War.
9. Susannah Brooks born about 1848 in Washington County. Nothing more is known about here.

In the 1850 census of Washington County, Ohio, there is a Caroline Brooks, age one, living with a Dye family. Now, remember, Nick Jr. ran away to live with the Dyes and later married a Dye. Nothing has been found on this Caroline after that time. My aunt and I speculated that this Caroline could actually have been the 10th child of Nick Sr. Who knows?

Sarah Ice Brooks obviously outlived Old Nick. I lost track of her after 1850 but I believe she moved to Webster County, Missouri with her daughter and son in law, Rebecca Ann and Abraham Bogard. I need to do further research on this.

Anyway, that's about it of Old Nick. As I said, he must have been quite a character and apparently quite the ladies man if he could get a 22 year old to marry him when he was 77! I obviously have no pictures of him but I do have one of his son, Benjamin Franklin. I kind of like to think that Ben looked a lot like his dad.

Benjamin Franklin Brooks 1836-1916 Don't you just love those eyes?

My Brooks Great Grandparents-Brooks Genealogy

Nicholas Brooks, Jr. 1832-1918

Ok, lets go back a generation. My great grandparents were Nicholas Brooks, Jr. and Eliza Rebecca Dye. Family tradition says that Nicholas left home at an early age "to fend for himself" and went to live with Samuel Dye, an uncle of his future wife. Considering the fact that his father was 80 years old when Nicholas was born might have had something to do with it!! (But more about Nick Sr. in another post). Nicholas was the son of Nicholas Brooks, Sr. and Sarah Ice. He was one of 9 children. He did have some half brothers and sisters but I'm not sure how many. Apparently Nicholas Jr. served in the Civil War when he lived in Wheeling, West Virginia for several years.

Eliza Rebecca Dye was the daughter of Amos Dye and Maria Taylor. She was one of 11 children. The Dye line was one of my favorite lines to research early on. I collected tons and tons of material on them. Eliza Rebecca played the organ at the Moss Run Church in Washington County, Ohio. I inherited the little brass lamp that she used to carry to church and place on the organ. I also inherited some monogrammed silverware and a stoneware pitcher belonging to Nicholas and Eliza Rebecca.

Nicholas Brooks Jr. Born January 15, 1832 Washington County, Ohio Died May 19, 1918 Washington County, Ohio. You would hardly recognize this good looking gent as the same one with the long white beard at the top of this page, would you?

Eliza Rebecca Dye born December 28, 1835 Washington County, Ohio Died June 21, 1904 Washington County, Ohio. Notice that she is pregnant in this picture. I like to think she is pregnant with my Grandpa.

Nicholas and Eliza Rebecca are buried in Eddy Cemetery in Washington County, Ohio

Nicholas and Eliza Rebecca were married in Washington County, Ohio November 9, 1854 and they had 8 children.

#1 My grandfather, Edwin Amos Brooks, was born July 23, 1855 in Washington County, Ohio and died January 24, 1940 in Parkersburg, Wood County, West Virginia. He married Amanda Jane Sayers April 12, 1877 in Ritchie County, West Virginia. She was born December 16, 1856 in Marshall County, West Virginia and died November 21, 1919 in Clarksburg, Harrison County, West Virginia.

#2. Their second born was John Henry Brooks born January 24, 1859 in Washington County, Ohio and died May 19, 1918 in Washington County, Ohio. John Henry never married. He apparently died of Epilepsy.

#3. Anna M. Brooks was born April 3, 1862 when the family lived in Wheeling, Ohio County, West Virginia. She died August 12 of that year in Wheeling.

#4. Dudley William Brooks was born August 14, 1864 in Wheeling, West Virginia and died March 23, 1932 in Washington County, Ohio. He married Lucinda Jane Hood September 5, 1904 in Washington County. They had 4 sons-Nicholas James, Gerald Walter, Clarence Elmer, and Delbert Ira.

#5. Charlotte Brooks was born about 1866. It is not clear when she died. Family tradition said that she was engaged to be married and died before her wedding. However, I never found her in the 1870 census.

#6. Elmer Nicholas Brooks was born February 3, 1868 in Washington County, Ohio and died May 22, 1937 on Cow Run, Washington County, Ohio. He married April 1, 1899 to Lillie Fredonia Knutty. They had 3 children-Eliza, Merl, and Lulu.

#7. Maria Brooks was born and died in 1869 in Washington County, Ohio

#8. Era (a boy) was born February 2, 1872 on Cow Run and died February 8, 1872.

This was the Brooks homestead where all 8 children were born. I took this picture in the 1960's sometime. It has since been torn down.

In my next post I will talk about Nicholas Brooks, Sr. or "Old Nick" as we lovingly call him. He has to be one of my all time favorite ancestors. He lived to be 108 years old, was apparently married 4 times, fathered I don't know how many children, and had his last kid when he was 99 years old!!! I've always wished that I could go back in time and meet him and find out so much more about him.