Tuesday’s Tip – Family Story Fact or Fiction
26 Apr 2011 1 Comment
in Genealogy Research Tags: Cherokee, family history, genealogy, Olieva Evans, Sara Turner
Tomorrow this will be posted on my Family History Research Blog but I thought it was appropriate to post here too.
I recently received a request for information on a tree I am working on for a friend on Ancestry.com. The person was requesting information on a woman named Olieva Evans. The family story on Olieva is that she was full blooded Cherokee. Adopted. Possible mother named Sara Turner who may have married a Doc Evans.
This person insisted over a few email conversations that they checked the Dawes Rolls front and backwards, up, down and sideways for Sara Turner and she is listed many times under many different names. I was also told that Sara is listed in the 1890s as being in her 30s. Ummmm really?
Let’s look at some facts. Olieva was born 15 June 1818 in Ohio. Married John E. Cunningham 27 Dec 1840 in Ohio. Died 31 Jul 1889 in Missouri. If Olieva was born in 1818, that would mean her mother Sara Turner would have been born around 1800 or just before. How could she possibly be in her 30s in the late 1890s? Sara would have been in her 90s if she was even still alive.
The Dawes enrollment began in 1893. Olieva had died by that time. I am assuming her mother had died prior to this also. None of Olieva’s children appear in the Dawes Rolls.
Now, I am no expert on Indian ancestry or the Dawes Rolls but from what I understand about the Rolls is that if you were part of one of the Five Civilized Tribes during and after 1893, you had the option to register with the Dawes Commission and receive land. There is no documentation for Olieva’s family or children indicating they were involved with any Indian tribe ever. Now, if someone has information proving otherwise, I would love to see it so please let me know.
The point of this post is to look at the names of the individuals you are searching for. Look at their dates. A person who was born about 1800 could not have been in their 30s in the 1890s. Just because someone has the same name does not make them the person you are looking for. Gather other facts to establish some level of proof or possibility. Do not tell me that this Sara Turner on the Dawes Rolls is the one you seek. It is very clear it is not. Show me some proof of this family being on the Rolls or stop telling me they are.
52 Weeks of Personal Genealogy and History
28 Feb 2011 Leave a Comment
in Uncategorized Tags: family history, family tree, genealogy, professional genealogist
Week 9: Sounds
Describe any sounds that take you back to your childhood. These could be familiar songs, jingles, children playing, or something entirely different.
I was born in the early 1970s and grew up listening to the music my mom loved. Neil Diamond, John Denver, Barry Manilow, Abba, and a bunch of music from her teen years. Those songs take me back to our house in Downers Grove where I am in the living room my dad built on to the house.
1980s music takes me back to Jr. High and High School when I was old enough to go to school dances and date. I know Bon Jovi takes me back to those days and it is funny that the songs I loved then, my kids love now.
If I hear the Mozart Clarinet Concerto, I’m taken back to my junior year in high school when I played that for my solo at District and State Music Contests. Those were good times. If I hear the theme from “Robin Hood” I am taken back to the fall of 1991 when I was in the marching band at SMSU (now Missouri State). I can still hear the music and feel my feet move forward at one point then horns raised to blast the audience at just the right moment. What a rush!!
52 Weeks of Personal Genealogy and History
21 Feb 2011 Leave a Comment
in 52 Weeks of Genealogy Tags: family history, family tree, genealogist, genealogy, generations
Week 8: Technology
What are some of the technological advances that have happened during your childhood? What types of technology do you enjoy using today, and which do you avoid?
A few weeks ago I was cleaning out boxes of old treasures and came across a few letters I wrote my uncle in the early 1980s. Those letters contained talk of the Commodore 64 computer and programs to put on a cassette tape! My how far we have come since then! My kids probably wouldn’t believe how computers used to work.
Today I enjoy my laptop, scanner, digital camera, and printer. I haven’t hit the IPhone yet but will get there soon.
52 Weeks of Personal Genealogy and History
14 Feb 2011 Leave a Comment
in 52 Weeks of Genealogy Tags: family history, family tree, genealogy, generations
Week 7: Toys
What was your favorite childhood toy? Is it still being made in some form today?
I had several favorite toys as a child. There was my Rub A Dub Dollie, Good Humor Ice Cream Truck, this bead machine that made necklaces (I can picture it but can’t tell you what the name of it was), my Weebles, my Sesame Street Playhouse (which I still have), McDonald’s Play Store (I wish I had this), and my Disney video thing. It had cartridges that you stuck into a machine to play a movie. I don’t think it had sound.
Today I think the Sesame Street House is made in some form from time to time but the rest is a product of the 1970′s.
52 Weeks of Personal Genealogy and History – Week 6
10 Feb 2011 Leave a Comment
in 52 Weeks of Genealogy Tags: family history, family stories, genealogy
Week 6: Radio and Television
What was your favorite radio or television show from your childhood? What was the program about and who was in it?
Growing up I loved watching “Little House on the Prairie” and “The Waltons”. They were such nice, wholesome, family shows. We would all watch them together. Little House was about Laura Ingalls Wilder’s life. The Waltons was about a large family living in the mountains of Virginia during the depression and World War II.
