As far as finding distant and not-so-distant cousins is concerned, it’s been an eventful week. Two new DNA matches popped up on Ancestry.com – both from the Boren branch of my family tree and both 3rd cousins. “Darlene” is the great granddaughter of Christine Boren, one of my great grandmother Lula Betty Boren’s sisters. “Christine” is a name I have… More →
Category: Trantham Kenfolk
Gray Matters
Back in December I wrote about wanting to find the descendants of “Betsy’s other children”. Betsy, is of course, Elizabeth (Martinleer Eppinger) Trantham, my 6th great grandmother and wife of Martin Trantham, Jr, my 6th great grandfather. The “other children” are the siblings of my 5th great grandfather, Martin Trantham (III). I’ve decided that having these descendants find me is a… More →
Chasing Geese Wildly
Identifying an elusive ancestor’s FAN club is a genealogical research technique I’ve recently discovered. FAN stands for Friends, Associates and Neighbors. It is used to help break through brick walls. The theory behind the technique is that our ancestor’s friends, associates and neighbors were often family members. Okay, that makes a lot of sense but will it work? My (least)… More →
Pioneer Lady Face
In my quest to find my long lost cousins, I read a lot of obituaries. And by “a lot”, I mean beaucoup. Every once in a while I’ll come across one with an interesting tidbit that makes it a tad bit more memorable. Such is the case of the obituary of Harriette Hillyer, my 4th cousin, 1x removed, who died… More →
Mississippi Martin, Part Tres is Tres Sad
Bad news awaited Martin Trantham, my 5th great grandfather, when he returned home after his brief sojourn into the Spanish-controlled Natchez District: he had missed the deadline to be compensated for serving in the Revolutionary War. Ouch. Compensation at the time came in the form of land grants since the fledgling former colonies had very few pesos in the coffers. Fight for… More →
Mississippi Martin, Take 2
One of the Martin Tranthams who made an appearance in Mississippi was a horse thief! In a report presented to the Senate in 1813 there appeared an entry concerning some disputed land in Natchez, Mississippi. A few Native American tribes were arguing over who had rights to the land. A witness, Nicholas Chatelin, came forth and testified to events that happened about twenty years earlier.… More →
Mississippi Martin
Herbert R. Trantham, Jr., a distant cousin, wrote a comprehensive history of the Tranthams focusing primarily on the descendants of his ancestor, James Trantham. Herbert puts forth that James was the son of Martin Trantham and his wife “Jane”. And, he wrote that Martin, Jane and James along with brothers Robert and John lived in Kershaw County, South Carolina sometime… More →
Whether Weathered Withers Wandered
Yes, I believe they must have. I had no idea just how challenging genealogy could be until I started working on the Withers family A YEAR AGO. They schooled me. Maria Trantham, my 3rd great grand aunt, married Elihu Withers in Henry County, Tennessee in 1838. Twelve years later, Elihu and Maria Weathers are still living there according to the 1850 census.… More →
My Cousin, My Enemy
We’re taught in school that the Civil War divided not only the nation but also families, often pitting brothers against brothers and cousins against cousins. Genealogically speaking, I have come across instances of this happening within my family tree. For example, my 3rd great grand uncle, Milas Deason, and his 1st cousin Benjamin Turbeville – both sons of Tennessee –… More →
Lydia’s Plight
Despite sworn affidavits from three soldiers who came forth and testified that her son, Milas, a Union soldier, had been executed by rebels and had not deserted as the Army concluded, Lydia Ann Deason, my 4th great grandmother, was unsuccessful in obtaining a mother’s Civil War pension. I finally made my way to the National Archives to view the complete file which… More →