Friday, January 7, 2011

A LONG time since last post

but I do intend to make up for that within a few days. I have to backtrack and find my notes from the 2009 Gathering of Dutch Cousins and write about it. THEN get started on maintaining this blog a bit better.

Barbara Whiteside

Saturday, April 4, 2009

Siblings, Francis Voris and Hortensia Voris Hogan

Hortincy Voris Hogan, youngest daughter of John and Rachel Montfort Voris, was born in 11/22/1810 in Mercer County, Kentucky, likely at the Pleasant Hill Shaker village, as her parents had joined the society early in 1810. She was the twelth child of Rachel and John Voris and a great granddaughter of the patriarch of the Low Dutch Colony, Hendrick Banta 3rd and his first wife, Rachel Brower.

The Shaker records say she left the society in 1829, but does not give a month and day in the records. I believe she left with one of her brothers. Samuel left March 23, 1829 and Francis left August 25, 1829. Patsey Thomas [Martha], the daughter of Elisha Thomas, left the society October 8, 1829 and would marry Francis Voris, Hortincy's brother.
I checked the census for Illinois and Indiana for 1830 and they are not there....though I believe they may have made a stop somewhere in Indiana as they moved towards Illinois.

There is a Francis Voris in Kentucky [Mercer County] in 1830 with
two males between the ages of 20-30,
one male between 30-40,
one female under the age of five,
two between five and ten,
one female between 20-30
one female between 30-40

There is also a much older Francis Voris in 1830 both in Mercer County. I don't know if the younger Francis is the one who left the Shakers...he would have been about 39 in1829 when he left the Shakers, if his 1790 birthdate is correct. Samuel would have been 23 when he left the Shakers in 1829 and Hortincy about 19 when she departed in the same year. According to Larry Voreis, Francis Voris married Patsey Thomas on January 30, 1830 in Shelby County, KY, so the female listed as between 30-40 must be Patsey, but who is the female under 5? It may be well that it is the daughter of Francis and Patsey who did not live into adulthood.

Both Francis and Samuel show up in the 1840 census of Peoria, Illinois. Francis has a son under the age of five and possibly a daughter, but by 1850, only the son is living with him and Patsey. The son is Henry B, age 14 at the time of the census. He is not found after this date however, so must presume he has died. In Larry Vories book on the Low Dutch [OUR LOW DUTCH HERITAGE], Francis and Patsey adopted Henry. Francis provided for his wife, Patsey, in his will and that she provide for Henry. A large portion of his estate went to his nephews, sons of his brother, Peter.

I think it is likely that Hortincy left the Shakers with her brother Francis in August of 1829 and then moved with him to Indiana and from there to Illinois where she married John Devonport Hogan on September 15, 1835. [source: Illinois marriages online] On her license she is listed as Hortensia Goodrich Voris.

John D. Hogan was a physician, and with her, would move to Bastrop County, TX. They were there by the 1850 census which lists four children. Frustratingly it only gives initials...save the youngest. F.V. , age 11, a son born in Missouri; then S.A. who was born in MO and was 9 at time of the census of 1850. The boys are followed by their only sister, C. who was four at the time of the census and born in Texas...followed by John born in Texas and only 4 mos old at the time. Later census would show that the oldest boy was Frank...probably Francis Voris and the next son was Shields Alexander. The girls name has not been found and nothing else is known about her at this time.

The 1850,1860, and 1870 census does not show the Hogans but since they are found in Bastrop County, TX in 1880, it is assumed they were there all that time but missed the census taker unintentionally or on purpose. It does show in Texas Civil War records online that John as well as both his sons, served in the Civil War...in the Confederate Army. The boys were part of the 17th TX Infantry, Company F.

Shields Alexander Hogan married Mary E. Lytle by January 1, 1865, when their first son was born. He was named Montfort E. Hogan...though some census give the middle initial as S. His death certificate and marker at the cemetery where he was buried, give his name as Montfort E. Hogan.

Shields and Mary would have a daughter, Mary Zepha in 1866 and another son in 1877 named Hardway. He apparently died young as he is not listed after this 1880 census anywhere in Texas records or anywhere else. Mary did not marry and died January 15, 1884.

In 1880 Shields and his family are living in Waco, TX [McLennan County] where he is listed as a herdsman born in MO. By 1900, he is living in the same town and county but his occupation is now lawyer...and gives his birthdate as October 1843. Mary was born November 1847 in Texas. Shields was living in a boarding house in 1910, listed as age 57 and a lawyer, it also states he had three children and only one living. He was lodging with J. Green and there was a young girl with him or it appears she is with him...named Elizabeth Hogan age 15.

Also living in McLennan County, Waco, TX is their son, Montfort Hogan.

Montfort Hogan is listed as having been born Jan of 1865 in TX . His wife, Lucy, was born in Arkansas in February 1881. They are in the 1900 census of McLennan, TX.. They have one son, Luther, born in Texas in June of 1894. Lucy was a Robinson before her marriage to Montfort Hogan and was born according to TX death records and a cemetery record, in 1871. She died March 25, 1905. He is not found in 1910 census but in 1920 he is listed as living in McLennan County, TX at Waco with a second wife, Eddleta age 35 and her two sons from a prior marriage, Carl W. Stewart [18] and Frank Stewart [15].

The death of Montfort Hogan occurred August 30, 1931.

Texas deaths online and at USGENWEB for McLennan County, TX, give the following on this Hogan family:

S.A. Hogan died of an accidental gunshot wound to the head....one source specifically says it was accidental. He was 75 years of age and the death happened on November 13, 1917 in McLennan County, TX. He was buried in the Oakwood Cemetery in Waco, TX. [source: USGENWEB TX deaths]

His wife, Mrs S.A. Hogan had died on January 28, 1910 at the age of 63 and was buried in the Oakwood Cemetery.

Shields Alexander Hogan died at the age of about 75 years in McLennan, TX with his occupation listed as lawyer on his death certificate. It gives his father as John D. Hogan, but mothers name unknown by the informant, M.E. Hogan of Waco. The date given is November 13, 1917. [*note, the M.E. is Montfort E. Hogan].

Montfort E. Hogan died on August 30, 1931 in Lake Waco, TX [McLennan County] and it gives his date of birth on the death certificate as January 1, 1865 and his mother as Mary Lytle. The informant is Harvey L. Hogan. I am going to assume this Harvey L. Hogan is the son of Montfort though I find no record of him in census records online. It is possible he is the same as Luther on the 1900 census and perhaps a misinterpretation of information given to the census taker or they called the son by the nickname Luther. I strongly suspect Luther in the 1900 census and later references to Harvey L, are one and the same. [see below]

1920 Galveston TX, finds Harvey L. Hogan age 25 and a butcher living with his wife, Hardee also 25. No children listed, but the Social Security deaths online lists a Harvey L. Hogan JR dying in Bowie County, TX on October 20, 1997.

Harvey Lytle Hogan died August 21, 1963 at the age of 60 in Wharton, TX, his residence at the time was Brazona, TX and he was buried in Houston. His death certificate gives his date of birth as June 4, 1894 in Texas...which lines up perfectly with the census taken in 1900 that gives the child,Luther, a birthdate of June 1894.

The following was found online at McLennan County, TX genweb site and was compiled by the Central Texas Genealogy Society.....

Oakwood Cemetery, McLennan County, Waco, Texas.

Dr John D. Hogan CSA 1810-August 7, 1890

Hortensia VORIS Hogan, wife of Dr J.D. 1811-February 6, 1902

Mary E. Lytle Hogan, 1847-January 28, 1910

S. A. Hogan 1843-November 14, 1917 [should read Nov 13 according to the sources]

Lucy Robinson Hogan wife of M. E. 1871-March 25, 1931

Montfort E. Hogan January 1, 1865-August 30, 1931

Mary Zepha Hogan daughter of S.A. and M. E. 1866-January 15, 1884

Harvey Lytle Hogan, son of S.A. and M.E. 1866-November 10, 1884

From the records of the Fall and Puckett Funeral home in Waco, TX compiled by the Central Texas Genealogy Society and online at McLennan County, TX genweb [USGENWEB] I found the following on the Hogan family:

Hortensia Hogan died February 6, 1902 at the age of 91, informant S.A. Hogan

Montfort E. Hogan age 66, died of acute dilation of the heart on January 1, 1865, charge of 358.25 goes to the estate for settlement. He died in Precinct 4 of Lake Waco and was living on Corsicana Road. He was a farmer and divorced.

S. A. Hogan died at age 75, charges of 57.00 no casket. His residence was Corsicana Road.

Mrs. S. A. Hogan died of apoplexy January 28, 1910

In addition I found online at McLennan County, Waco, TX from records of the WACO DAILY EXAMINER and compiled by the Central Texas Genealogy Society .....
.
Wed. January 16, 1884 Miss Zephie Hogan, daughter of Shels Hogan, died yesterday, age 17. The father is in Tyler. The funeral will be Thursday from the residence at 8th and Austin, with Mr J.D. Shaw officiating.

Wed, March 26, 1905 Mrs Hogan, wife of J.W. Hogan, died at Llano yesterday, ship remains to Waco. J.W. is the son of Judge S.A. Hogan, funeral Monday. [*there is a question mark after the name of Judge Hogan]

Wed March 27, 1905. Funeral of Mrs. Mont Hogan is from the residence 8th and Austin with burial in Oakwood Cemetery.

[*I believe the question mark for the entry in the newspaper on March 26, is a misprint , and the name J. W. should be M. E. This is the date of his wife's death according to the Oakwood Cemetery records. Her name was Lucy Robinson Hogan and the entry for the paper on March 27, confirms that.]

barbara whiteside 2009

Monday, March 30, 2009

Descendants of Rachel Montfort Voris [John]

RACHEL MONTFORT VORIS [JOHN]

Rachel was the eldest of nine children born to Francis Sr and Charity Banta Montfort. Born in York County, PA on Aug 14, 1769 at Conewago, she moved with her parents and siblings to Kentucky about 1785 or 1786. She was married to John Voris on Feb 4, 1786 with the license being recorded in Jefferson County, Kentucky. John was the son of Peter Voorhees and Sophia Vanderbogert Voorhees.. His brother, Francis, would marry Catherine Montfort, sister of Rachel.

A good history of the Voorhees family was written by Larry Voreis OUR LOW DUTCH HERITAGE, which will give you a good background on the Voorhees family and all its spelling variations.

Rachel and John would have twelve children by the time they joined the Shakers religious society in 1810.

Peter who was born Dec 9, 1786 and died in Peoria, Ill June of 1838....he was murdered. No marriage or children have been found.

John born Jan 9, 1789 and died at Shakertown Sept 18, 1836.

Francis born Sept 20, 1790 and died May 15, 1852 married to Patsey Thomas, daughter of Elisha on Jan 4, 1830...both had left the Shakers. They apparently had one son, Henry B. born about 1836. He appears in the 1850 census with his parents in Peoria, Illinois but not found anywhere after that. Francis was a merchant and in 1850 his value is set at 100,000 dollars. On his death he would leave all to his brother, Samuel, providing they cared for his widow, Patsey till her death.

Polly born May 4, 1794 and died at Shakertown March 11, 1876

Sophia born March 24, 1794 and died at Shakertown Nov 7, 1872

James born Feb 17, 1796 and died at Shakertown June 3, 1823

Jacob born Nov 8, 1797 and died at Shakertown May 4, 1870

Charity born July 5, 1799 and died at Shakertown May 8, 1821

Peggy born Feb 14, 1801 and died at Shakertown Jan 11, 1882

Abraham born Nov 12, 1803 and left the Shakers in Oct 1827, no more known of him.

Samuel born May 20, 1806, married SarahCongleton, died in Peoria, Ill...descendants.

Hortincy born Nov 22, 1810 and married to JOHN D. HOGAN probably in KY. There are descendants.

I recently set out to see if there were any descendants from Peter, Samuel, Hortincy and Abraham and to date have found family lines from Hortincy and Samuel. This blog will deal with the information found on both Samuel and Hortincy's descendants. I hope to add something to the line on descendants of Peter in the future. I will start on what I found on Samuel then go onto his sister Hortinsey in another posting.

Samuel and his wife, Sarah,were married in Peoria on Nov 30, 1835. Her maiden name was Congleton. [Illinois Marriage records online at US GENWEB/Illinois] They had three known children found on census records for Peoria, Illinois in 1860. They were Richard, Robert and Isabelle.

Samuel is listed as a “Gentleman Farmer” in the 1860 census with real estate worth 180,000 dollars and property worth 100,000 dollars. I suspect this may be from the inheritance he received from his uncle Francis Voris and why the widow of Francis, Patsey Thomas Voris was residing with Samuel's family in the 1860 census. Also listed are the three children of Samuel and Sarah, Richard born about 1838, Robert C. born about 1840, and Isabela born about 1839.
In 1870 they are still in Peoria, where Samuel is 64 and a mechanic born in KY and worth 50,000 dollars in real estate and 25,000 dollars in property. His wife Sarah age 65 is living still and with them are son Robert age 30, his wife, Jennie age 26 and their daughter, Maggie one year old. Patsey Thomas Voris is no longer listed with them and presumably has passed away.
Neither Samuel or Sarah are found after the 1870 census so presumably they passed away in the ten years between census taking and are buried in Peoria.

1. Samuel's son, Richard was born about 1838 in Illinois, would marry Belle Parmely [Isabella]on Dec 3, 1863 in Peoria [Illinois Marriage Records online] their first child, Mary was born about 1864. Their other children, Samuel born about 1866, Frank V. born about 1867 and Edward born in 1870, all in Peoria, Illinois. They were followed by Sophia born about 1877 and Callie born about 1879. Richard owned an iron foundry in 1870. Isabelle/Belle Voris is still living in the 1910 census for Peoria and with her are two daughters, Sofia T age 28 and Clarabel age 27 [Callie??]

Of the children of Richard and Sarah Voris, I have yet to find further information on Mary Voris , though she may have married, I have not found anything showing a date for any marriage or any descendants through her line.

Son Frank died at age 64 in Peoria, Illinois on January 22, 1935, nothing further is known of him. He may be the F.B. Voris in the 1920 census of Peoria, Ill with wife, Mollie but it isn't certain without further study. He is listed in that census as 50 years of age and wife, Mollie is 52.

Samuel Jr, died May 16, 1928, in Peoria. He is known to have married Maggie ___ by 1897 when a son, Richard is born and later a daughter, Mary born in July 1899, then Ruth born about 1902, Robert born about 1906 and Thomas born about 1909. The family is found in the census of 1910 for Peoria and again in the 1920 census with only the three younger children still living at home.

Edward is found in the 1910 census of Peoria, Illinois [age 40] with a wife, Lena [age 44] and three children, Edna born about 1901, Leonard born about 1904, Edward Newland Voris died April 1, 1924 in Peoria, Illinois.

2, Samuel's son Robert C. was born about 1840 in Illinois. On Feb 23, 1865 Robert C Voris married Virginia V. Baldwin [Illinois Marriage records online at USGENWEB/IL] He is living with his brother, Richard in the 1880 census of Peoria, at age 40 and it says he was divorced. So far, no children have been found and nothing further on him or his former wife.

bkw2009

Saturday, March 21, 2009

Grave rubbing at Shakertown Cemetery 2007






Thought I might write about the visit to the cemetery at Shakertown in the fall of 2007 with my cousin, Diana Davis. We had just visited with Larrie Curry at the administration building where she made copies of the cemetery layout and initials on the remaining graves. It also showed the center section where no stones remain but where graves have been found through soundings. With this in mind, we entered the cemetery hoping to figure out where Grandpa Francis might be buried. Its almost certain he's in the center section of the cemetery where markers were taken for use in foundations of cabins and barns in the late 1800's. But something directed me to the right of the cemetery as you walk in and a short hike up an incline to a marker that sure looked it had C. M. etched into it. Taking whatever paper and pencil I could find in my bag I made a rubbing of the stone and what I made is shown above. We were certain we had found our Charity Banta Montfort.

Tuesday, January 20, 2009

Thoughts on Inauguration Day 2009

Being very interested in the Shaker religious society, it was a pleasure hear the SHAKER HYMN, not once but three times during the inauguration of Barak Obama and Joe Biden as our new President and Vice President today, January 20, 2009. The US Marine Corps band played it first in pre inaugural ceremonies below the podium where Obama and Biden were sworn in. During the ceremony, a musical interlude with a quartet playing a version of the Shaker Hymn, also known as Simple Gifts. While watching the inaugural parade, a band from where I don't recall, played it as they passed the reviewing stand.

It is also a pleasure to say the new President is a distant cousin through our mutual Demarest lines. Don't ask, its complicated..just say the Demarests made sport of intermarrying and it appears he and I are related more than once. This same family made me a ninth cousin to my own dad by all the intermarrying.

I've begun preparing for the Gathering of Dutch Cousins reunion this coming September. If I don't start now, nothing will be ready when the time comes. I look forward to seeing old friends and making new ones. I am hoping to get a better representation of Montfort and Banta ancestors each time we get together.

At the moment I am working with two Montfort cousins..one is working on papers for Sons of the American Revolution and have sent proof he can use on the early generations. I think he has about got it all gathered up and is in touch with a mentor from SAR who will guide him through the membership steps. The other is finding out WHICH Montfort line he descends from and by process of elimination of all the Henry Monforts in Ohio...we think we may have found his line and now to find proof we are correct. I feel he is from the Henry, son of Jacobus and Leah Banta Montfort...Leah being the sister of Charity Banta Montfort [Francis Sr] and daughters of Hendrick Banta 3rd and his first wife, Rachel Brower. Jacobus is an uncle to Francis Montfort Sr....why not...they liked to keep it all in the family...just to confuse us.

My husband, Tom, and I celebrate our 47th anniversary tomorrow and have added to our family lineage with two daughters and five grandchildren. Maybe one of them will keep up the family history, I sure hope so.

Barbara Whiteside
Jan 20, 2009

Sunday, November 2, 2008

A few thoughts on family history

What posseses someone to get head over heels researching their family history......for some I'm sure its to find someone worthy in order to join a prominent society..i.e. DAR, Society of Colonial Dames of the 17th Century, SAR or Huguenot Society and a long list of groups where you must prove your descent from someone relating to the criteria of that group. Those people tend to stop when they have that one person who meets the criteria needed. Then there are those like me...loves history and enjoys it more when I know an ancestor lived in that era or had something to do with a famous battle or event in history......and just loves to solve a mystery story you'd heard from someone in the family. That could be a mysterious death or a run away bride, perhaps a change of last name and curious stories told about it that just don't add up.

Then there are the surprises you find when you start digging......a relationship to a famous pioneer or a group you've heard of and wondered about.

Being a family historian is a game or puzzle.....and sometimes just a bit of stubborness is necessary to figure out what happened to someone who is there one year and gone the next. Its tying up loose ends for one family and giving them a history. Its also sharing with someone who perhaps was adopted and feels lost till he understands his place in the scheme of things.

My own quest started as a ten year old. We had read our Weekly Reader in fifth grade one day...all about the reasons people left Europe to come to America. I was familiar with my mothers family as I had been around them all my life at that point...heard them telling stories about this ancestor or that one, visited cemeteries on Decoration Day and Easter Sunday with my Grandpa Wright and spent time with various relatives of my mothers parents as I grew up.

My dad's family had always been something of a mystery as we didn't visit often, for one reason or another. He told me what he knew of his grandpas family on his dads side...his grandpa was James Perry Adams from South Carolina. James married Emily McClellan in Fl and came to KY when she was pregnant with my Grandpa, Ancil Adams. He was the first born in Kentucky. On his mothers family he said they were kin to President Zachary Taylor. Thats one story I've never been able to prove though I've had others in the family repeat the same story.

About his mother's family, he said he knew three things....they were French Huguenots, came to Kentucky very early and their last name was Montfort with both t's pronounced and the last syllable emphasized. Something about that word huguenot. I had always loved big words...pronouncing them, learning the meanings, spelling them.....and huguenot was perfect in my book. From that point I determined to learn to speak French, the language of my ancestors.

One day we went to my Grandma Adams show to celebrate her birthday...all her kids and grandkids were to be there..at least the ones that lived closeby. I have a picture of my Grandma and me looking at a photo of my Grandpa Adams..the first time I had ever seen what he looked like. She later gave me a copy of the same photo to take home with me. We sat and talked about her family. I was thirteen or nearly so and started paying attention to the stories she told me that day.

Her father died when she was four and her mother died when she was ten...leaving her to live with this aunt or another, then finally keeping house for her older brothers till her marriage. I suppose the stories she knew came from her mothers sister, Jennie Montfort Satterwhite Jensen. She knew the names of her aunts and uncles on her mothers side but knew little of her dad's family....except someone in Missouri had passed away and the estate was looking for next of kin. Grandma had moved to Indiana at this point and in the early 1900's it wasn't as easy to locate as it is now. Not long ago and with some surprise I learned the story was true.

There are some things I've learned that did not come from Grandma....and boy what surprises they have been. The family connection to the Boone family, the Shaker religious society of Kentucky, the Traveling Church that migrated in 1780 from Virginia to Kentucky, the Low Dutch Colony in Kentucky in 1780, quite a long list of Rev War veterans including FOUR women, and descending from a family that were among the first group of settlers that came from Holland to what is now Nieuw Amsterdam in 1624.

I used to say my ancestors were mainly from England, Ireland and Scotland, but now have more from Holland and France than all the others combined. Oh and learning to speak French, the language of my ancestors????? After two years of struggling and the teacher rolling her eyes at my attempts to pronounce words.....I later learned they were more likely speaking a language known as Walloon...a mix of Dutch and French and even more likely spoke Dutch after their arrival in America.

All of this came from the three things my dad told me when I was ten.

Barbara Whiteside
November 1, 2008

Friday, October 31, 2008

The family history has expanded

Just this week, when I thought I had found all I could find on the nine children of Francis Sr and Charity Banta Montfort, a sudden whim took me to Heritage Quest online through my local library. Browsing the 1840 census for Indiana, I located the daughter I thought had died soon after her marriage. Now the challenge will be to find names for those children listed with her on that head of household names only census. Life as a family historian has been vastly simplified with more credible information being posted online.

My goal for the past year has been to trace down each of the nine children of Francis and Charity as far as possible and locating descendants who may be starting to search their own family history. I am glad to share via email or through this blog and a website as well as on rootsweb, what I've found in over 55 years of asking questions and searching courthouses and libraries.


The nine children are :

Rachel and Catherine who married the Voris brothers, John and Francis

Marya who married Stephen Terhune

Charity who married Cornelius Luyster/Lyster

Henry who married his first cousin Catherine Montfort and moved to Ohio

John Calvin who married Nancy Agnes Mitchell and then Ruth Gess

Francis Jr who was married to his cousin Polly Banta [and my line of interest]

Jacob who married his cousin Margaret/Peggy Banta then Nancy Lineback

Sarah or Sallie who never married.


John Calvins line pretty much stayed in Kentucky and were fairly easy to trace. Several of his descendants have also been actively working on this line and shared their work with me. Catherine's line was simplified in recent communications with some of her descendants both in Indiana and in Kentucky. Though a slow bit of work at first, I've been able to locate descendants of Marya Montfort Terhune as they moved into Indiana and then westward. Henry was a bit more of a challenge as he married and moved to Ohio with his cousin/bride and till I located online Ohio information, that line had come to a standstill till recently.

Those that went to the Shakers in the early 1800's were complicated at first but access to the original Shaker journals at the Filson Historical Society in Louisville, Kentucky helped with the lines of Rachel Voris and her children, Jacob and his interesting association with the Shakers, Francis Jr and the youngest daughter Sarah. Once the children of these four left the Shakers, I then had to resort to the usual means of investigation; courthouses, libraries and census records but while some of them were a challenge, I've not only found most all of their descendants but found several descendants interested in their family history.

My own line through Francis Jr was easy once I got beyond his joining the Shakers. His brother Jacob led an interesting life with the Shakers and his expulsion in 1836 led me to Indiana and finally at least one descendant who is interested in the familyhistory.

That left Charity who married Cornelius Luyster and moved to Indiana...till this week. I now have her living till sometime in the 1840's as she is no longer living in the 1850 census. She had moved to Jackson County, Indiana and I believe soon I'll be able to figure out who the children are as they are only listed by age in that particular census. At least I know now she did have children and there are descendants still to locate.

This week after I found the information I had been seeking on Charity Montfort Lyster, I received emails from a Montfort descendant in California on a line I've been bringing down to the current generation. From my beginnings in the 1950's when it seemed NO one was looking into this family, suddenly the interest has become a groundswell and I'm happy to share what I have with any and all.

All of that came on the heels of locating the three daughters of my grandmothers Uncle James Montfort, who had gone to Texas. My grandmother started all this by telling me the names of her aunts and uncles and what little details she had of each but this particular uncle was never mentioned. I was able to locate him through a census showing him to be the eldest son in the family and shortly after that he married and moved south, then west to Texas where he disappeared for a time. My grandmother was very young when she lost both her parents and was shuttled back and forth between kith and kin till old enough to live and care for her older brothers till she married. I find it amazing to know the stories and names she was able to tell me have all been proven, even the one where she missed out on a large inheritance because she had moved to Indiana and couldn't be located.

A recent addition to research came across in a message posted on the Dutch-Colonies discussion group about 6 weeks ago....and I finally had an opportunity to try it out this past week. WOW, what a boost to genealogy. I was able through this search program locate those three daughters of James Francis Montfort who went to Texas...found his death certificate as well as that of his second wife, one of the daughters and several grandchildren. It also will pull up fairly easy to read census records and is constantly adding more information to the search engine.

The site I am praising is at http://search.labs.familysearch.org/recordsearch/start.html#p=0
I think there might be an easier way to find it but that is how its listed on my favorites.

That is all for this post, I may come back and edit or add more later as my mind recalls something specific I want to note here.

Barbara Whiteside
Oct 31, 2008