Author: William

Write Your History

By Linda Stewart, 1 August 2018

I love history.  When I start a new family project, the first thing I do is research the county they lived in.  What crops were grown?.  What type of industry was in the area? What was the population of the town?  Were there any disasters or epidemics that occurred in the area that effected the family?  I will spend days getting the feel for the land, so to speak, before I start researching the family themselves.  This pre-research gives me a better understanding of what may have occurred in their lives.

One of the best sources to find this type of information is newspapers.com.  It is a paid site, but well worth the cost.  You can find all kinds of information.  You may even locate a family historian from the past.  Here is one such person …

A New Book – Edwin Paschall, J13,well known in Tennessee for forty years as a gentleman of great ability and intellectual culture, has prepared and will soon have in press a work on the early history of Tennessee, embracing the most interesting and thrilling events in the lives of the pioneers of the State.  It will be a book of absorbing interest, not only to the generation now passing away, but to posterity.  The work will be sold by subscription.  Mr. Walter Paschall J131, is now in the city soliciting subscriptions, and we cheerfully commend him and the forthcoming work to the favor of the public.  Nashville Union and American, (Nashville, TN) – Wednesday, December 16, 1868, Page 4.

Edwin Burford Paschall  was my 3rd great uncle.  He was a school teacher.  He placed an ad in the newspaper on 29 December 1854, which appeared 12 January 1855.  It reads School Notice – Edwin Paschall will open his School on the 1st of January, in a house owned by Mr. Digoons, on the Charlotte Turnpike, near the residence of Sterling R. Cockrell. The Tennessean, (Nashville, TN) – Friday, January 12, 1855, Page 4

I actually found Edwin Paschall’s book on Amazon, republished by Forgotten Books.  I have ordered it and am looking forward to reading his work from 150 years ago.  So write down your genealogy and your family stories.  Make copies and give them to your family members.  Who knows, maybe in the year 2168 one of your descendants will be reading your work.

Happy Hunting!

 

County Tax Assessor-Collector Records

By Linda Stewart, 13 July 2018

Researching your family history today is not like the research of 30 years ago. Back in the pre-Internet days, you spent your Saturdays going to the library, or walking your local cemeteries looking for ancestors. All of your vacation time was spend looking at the records in a courthouse. Then a table was setup at the family reunion so everyone could fill out the family sheets. Today with the creation of the Internet, we have access to a myriad of records. The marriage, birth, death, census, voter’s registration, probate, etc. records on the Internet can only give you a partial picture of your ancestor’s life. You still need to research the courthouse records.

The county records that do not appear online are the County Tax Assessor-Collector records, deed records, divorce records, and civil court records. Our ancestors paid property and poll taxes, bought and sold land, got divorced, and even got into disputes with their neighbors. The Tax Assessor records will tell you when your ancestor was living in a county. It will list if he had land, how many acres he owned, a brief description, and the year the taxes were due. With that information you can go to the County Clerk’s Office and look at the deed records. There will be two indexes. The Grantee Index lists when the land was purchased. The Grantor Index lists when the land was sold.

With the County Tax Assessor-Collector records, I have actually tracked an ancestor every year of his life from the time he was old enough to pay the poll tax to vote until he died. In many cases, you can even find out the year he died. It will list the ancestor’s name with deceased written beside it, and who the administrator of his estate was. With this information you know what year to research the probate records at the County Clerk’s Office.

With our busy schedules, sometimes it is simply not feasible to go to the courthouses for research. If you live in Texas, The Texas State Library and Archives Commission has microfilmed all of the county records in each County Clerk’s office. Check with your local library. If they have a microfilm reader, then they can inter-library loan five reels of microfilm at a time. The reels may also be loaned out of state. Be patient. There is only one reel so you will have to wait your turn … it is usually a short wait. Here is the link to the Texas State Library microfilm page. https://www.tsl.texas.gov/arc/local/index.html  Click on the name of the county and see what is available.

I know that the county microfilm program is available in Tennessee, as well as Oklahoma. Tennessee will loan their film within their state as well as out, but Oklahoma will not. You have to go to their state library to view it. Check with your state library to see what they offer.

Happy Hunting!

Welcome

By Linda Stewart, 12 July 2018

Welcome to the website.  As with all genealogy, this site too is a work in progress and a learning experience.  We are so pleased to have Clarence McDaniel’s work online once again.  He is truly a treasure to our family for all of his years of hard work and dedication.

Happy Hunting!

Help Identify Pictures from the Lunsford Stanhope Paschall line

By Linda Stewart, 12 July 2018

We need your help!  William Harold Reid Jr. has sent in some photographs which need identification.  Any information that you can have is greatly appreciated.

The two children with the doll are Paschall’s either from the John Thomas Paschall family or his brother William Dennis Paschall.  They would have lived in Wise County Texas.  Seated John Thomas Paschall, wife Ellender Josephine Goodger Paschall, girl standing behind them in the middle is their daughter Ollie Clementine Paschall Reid, to her right is her sister, and then her brother Clayton Lunsford Paschall.  Can anyone identify the other people.

 Mary Paschall is written on the back.

Ollie Clementine Paschall is on the right, and the woman on the left and in the middle are her sisters.  Her sisters were Emily F. Paschall, Mary Anna Paschall, and Ada Belle Paschall.  Emily died in 1910 and Ollie married Weaver Newton Reid in 1912.  It is unknown as to the date of the picture.  Can you identify the two sisters with Ollie?