29 February 2012 by Libbi.

So in searching for Julia Ann Jolley May’s life, I have come up with this much information, and logged it on Ancestry.com: Here is some of what I have found:
1856 19 Mar Birth Tennessee, USA Sources:
1880 United States Federal Census
1900 United States Federal Census
1910 United States Federal Census
1920 United States Federal Census
1930 United States Federal Census
Kentucky Death Index, 1911-2000
Kentucky Death Records, 1852-1953

1880 Age: 24, Residence Buford, Ohio, Kentucky, United States. In this census, the family is listed as white. Joseph is 68, Julia is 22 and keeping house, her four teenage siblings at home, and the mother is not listed.

1881 14 Apr Age: 25, Marriage to Nelson Thomas May Ohio County, Kentucky, USA

1900 Age: 44, Residence Magisterial District 5, Buford, Ohio, Kentucky

1900 Age: 44, Residence Magisterial District 5, Buford, Ohio, Kentucky Stories (1)

1910 Age: 54, Residence Hartford, Ohio, Kentucky

1910 Age: 54, Residence Hartford, Ohio, Kentucky

1920 Age: 64, Residence Heflin, Ohio, Kentucky

1930 Age: 74, Residence Bartlett, Ohio, Kentucky

1946 31 Dec Age: 90, Death Mclean, Kentucky, United States

Now, in the census that first lists her, the family is living in Jefferson City, Tennessee. That is not too far from North Carolina, as he lists his birthplace. And this is definitely Cherokee territory, so to speak, just 40 miles from the present day Great Smokey Mountains National Park.

After going to a Genealogy Meetup with Kay Rudolph, I came up with this information on the Jolley family:

Abraham Jolly, Died 1917 in Livermore, McLean, Kentucky, father Joe Jolly Mother Bettie Perkins. This seems to be a brother. Abraham Jolly, age 5 is listed with the family in the 1870 Federal Census in Jefferson County, Tennessee.

Joseph Jolley appears in a Pedigree Resource File (remember, PRF is all secondary information to me, because this is someone else’s research of records). Though his age in the 1870 census would put his birth date at 1802, this PRF file says birth 1807, Iredell County, North Carolina. This PRF file Shows the marriage to Elizabeth Perkins 11 September 1850, which is what I found in Kentucky Marriage Records. In the same file Elizabeth Jane is listed as born 1855 Jefferson County, TN, and again the census of 1870 would put her birth at 1854.

This file shows Joseph’s father as William, who married Lucinda Allen; William’s father as Charles, no mother listed.

Nothing in this file shows any connection to the Cherokee, but some good clues to chase down. .

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28 February 2012 by Libbi.

Starting with the Crowe grandmother,  Margaret Arminta Forrester who married Jesse Crowe.

Margaret Arminta Forrester life shows in these records: 

I should note here, that I have not found anything putting the Forresters in Arkansas, although perhaps they were there between censuses…..From the records I could find, we see Arminta was born in Georgia before the Civil War, was in Indiana just across the river from Kentucky in 1870, and married and in Kentucky in 1880. Now Tunnel Hill GA is up in the mountains, near the Trail of Tears. So this is interesting. However, a quick search of the Dawes Rolls of the Cherokee does not turn up Forrester as a surname in that census. So, that is not a deal killer, but it is not something that makes me wonder.

Then, a friend who has much more genealogy experience than I wrote:

Tunnel Hill has a connection to the Cherokee Nation. It’s basically at Dalton, GA. I have been to Cherokee, NC - reminds of me of the song, all the things we made by hand are nowadays made in Japan. I have been to various monuments between Chattanooga and Knoxville. There are several signs on I-75 between Chattanooga and Atlanta but we never stopped, always next trip. They had females in positions of power and the late Wilma Mankiller was the Cherokee Chief. Got to love that name.
I think you need to find a map of the Trail of Tears. IIRC there were several branches, some going into Kentucky. and touching southern Illinois. There were drop offs all the way for whatever reason. Could be mom was born in Tunnel Hill and Arminta was born somewhere in Arkansas but since she didn’t know where they were she adopted Tunnel Hill. Things like that happened. But Arminta was born too late to be on the trail of tears. >I think Jolly sounds like a Cherokee name. The ones [few] I have dealt with had names like that. I don’t know how it all works out but there was a Cherokee who was in central Illinois in the 1830s or 40s who gave testimony on a RW pension app. How did he get there? And my cousin’s multi great grandmother, a Cherokee, came out of Kentucky as I recall. That’s when I discovered there wasn’t A trail of tear but branches. So there has to be more to it than the standard history - round them up, move them out.

So, next I will look more closely at Julia Jolley.<

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27 February 2012 by Libbi.

In 1975, when I first met Thomas Wayne Crowe, he told me his grandmother was “full blooded Cherokee.” In 1978, I married his grandson. In 1982, we had our first child and I really wanted to find out about this. T. W. clammed up on me, and for years I could find out nothing.

This month, Mark’s grandmother, Gladys, died. The family let me have the Bible that always sat on her coffee table. And, below is one Genealogy Page.

So now I have the two grandmothers’ names:
Arminta Foster Crowe, born in Arkansas and Julia Ann Jolly May. One of these women could be of the Cherokee tribe. But which one?

Using FamilySearch.org, Ancestry.com, and Rootsweb.org it does not take me long to find the parents of both of them. I found census, marriage and death records that helped.

• Arminta’s parents are Margaret Dunn and Jesse Forrester, according to several records, and several sources have her first name as Margaret.

• Julia Ann’s parents are Joseph Jolley and Elizabeth Perkins, who possibly had a first or second name as Frances. Also, I find that Julia Ann was born in Tennessee, according to her death record.

So that is a start. Some very good clues. But a mystery….

I’m going to blog about what I find over the next few days….

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9 February 2012 by Libbi.

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3 February 2012 by Libbi.

This is a press release from Fold3:

Celebrate Black History Month with Free Access to Black History Records

In 1976, President Ford designated February as Black History Month to highlight the achievements of African Americans in U.S. history. He encouraged the nation to “seize the opportunity to honor the too-often neglected accomplishments of black Americans in every area of endeavor throughout our history.”

In honor of Black History Month, we invite you to enjoy free* access to Fold3’s Black History Collection. This collection includes many enlightening historical records documenting African American achievements since the earliest days of our nation. Of particular interest are those from the Civil War era as we continue to observe the 150th anniversary of the Civil War.

As soon as black soldiers were recruited to serve the Union in 1863, records were generated to document their service including Compiled Service Records for the U.S. Colored Troops and, ultimately, pension files. The pension file index cards, like this one for Joel Bedenbaugh, include a soldier’s rank, company, and regiment within the U.S.C. Infantry, his pension numbers, and sometimes a death date, 24 August 1913, in this case. Private Bedenbaugh’s 16-page service record also includes his enlistment record from when he joined up in Dayton, Ohio, in 1864.

Southern Claims Commission files are petitions by southerners who lost property to Union troops during the Civil War, including many blacks, like William and Louisa Ferguson. Though freeborn, Louisa was not only the wife of a slave, but also the daughter of George Washington’s carpenter, also a slave. Their claim for compensation of $150 for the loss of a horse was denied, but Louisa’s tales of Union and Confederate troops in the vicinity includes her encounters with the rebels and her service to the Union hospital nearby. A transcription of her file is here.

Explore these and thousands of other records documenting the history of African Americans in the U.S., from before the Civil War to the War in Vietnam. Join us as we recognize Black History Month and provide free* access to the Black History Collection on Fold3.

*  Free Access ends February 29, 2012 at Midnight

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