Jan 23 2013

My Kindred Tree #1 on Google

As of today, when you enter ‘My Kindred Tree’ in a Google search, it comes up FIRST! (see copy of web page at bottom of post)

If for some reason you can only remember ‘Kindred Tree’ it will appear 5th in the search engine. You’ll have to do a bit more hunting if all you remember is ‘My Kindred’ because it appears on the fourth page.

The website URL or address is not the only top dog from the site. Max Augustus LINN and Eula Mae HOLDER LINN also come up first; you’ll just have to remember their entire names! Max’s picture also appears first in the ‘Images’ search.

To put this in perspective, it is estimated that there are about 250 million websites with about 75 million of those that are active. Google, Yahoo, and Bing share about 90% of all searches with Google getting about 65%, Yahoo 17% and Bing at around 12%.

This is more fun than playing ‘Scrabble’ on line. Actually it’s called SEO, short for ‘Search Engine Optimization’. There are several goals for trying to be on the first page of a search engine such as Google:

To make it easier for family and friends to find content.
To assist others that might be searching for these kindred ancestors and family trees.
To put more ‘good’ content on the internet.

Your comments are valuable to this website. If you ever want to contribute a ‘post’ (also known as a ‘blog’) please write it out in a word processing program or e-mail and send it to us. If you have any family artifacts or pictures please, please send those along as well. Also, please share any research you do. We’re happy to publish it.

Jan 22 2013

The Bedspreads Crocheted by Eula Mae HOLDER LINN

Eula Mae HOLDER LINN was gifted in many ways. One of those was with a crochet hook and thread in her hands. It seemed like she was always crocheting something. When she visited family away from home, one of the first things she requested was a trip to the store to buy some thread.

The pictures below show the basic design of the bedspreads she made. Each square measures approximately 6″ x 6″ and is made of a fine cotton thread commonly known as “knit cro-sheen” She would make one square at a time and then sew them together for the finished bedspread. The bedspread covers a double/queen bed and require 12 squares across and 14 squares down for a grand total of 168 squares. There are 3 known bedspreads of this exact same pattern and size. That’s 504 squares. She really was always crocheting something.

Crochet Bedspread made by Eula Mae HOLDER LINN

Bedspread made by Eula Mae with cotton thread called knit-crosheen.

Crochet Bedspread by Eula Mae HOLDER LINN close up of pattern

A close up of the crochet pattern Eula used.

Jan 21 2013

Builder, Big, Boisterous, Bradley, Birthday Boy

Born Cecil Bradley DEAN on January 21, 1921 to John Wesley DEAN and Bessie BURKHALTER as the fifth child and fourth boy in a row. He would also have 4 addition brothers born in the family. He was the middle child, raised on a farm in rural south Georgia. He was taught principles of hard work and long hours, mixed with times of fun.

Officially changing his name to Brad DEAN late in life, Brad was a residential builder and commanded attention on the building site due to his size and voice.

He was born on the farm near Waycross, Georgia and went to Pearson High School in Pearson, Georgia. He did not graduate, but joined the Marines in 1937 and served the next 8 years as a Marine in WWII. He came home and married Evelyn Roberta BARKER on July 3, 1948. He worked as a salesman for a candy company and then for the American Greeting Card Company. He basically sold these items to drug stores.

One pharmacist on his “route”, Dr. Sawner, encouraged him to settle in Knox County, Tennessee around 1950 to build houses. They became partners, with Dr. Sawner providing the capital and Brad providing the work. He stayed in the profession the rest of his life, mostly building small single story 3-bedroom starter homes.

He moved to Venice, Florida around 1969. Evelyn and Brad divorced in 1973 and he soon thereafter married Hazel BARKER (actually Hazel’s first husband’s last name, not her maiden name). Brad and Hazel moved to Sarasota, Florida about 1975 and he eventually died in Sarasota Memorial Hospital November 19, 1984.

Brad DEAN looking quite good around 1967

Jan 17 2013

Eula Mae HOLDER LINN

Eula Mae HOLDER was the 3rd child of Alma Josephine JACKSON and James Solomon HOLDER the 10th of December 1900. Locust Grove, Henry County, GA was where her family resided and she was born.

On the 2nd of Sept 1917 she married Max Augustus LINN in Griffin, Spalding County, GA.

She and Max had 4 children together; 2 that grew to adulthood and 2 that died as babies.

Eula Mae worked at a dress making factory in the finishing department. She would add belts and sashes to finished dresses among other things.

She was an avid seamstress at home making her own clothes as well as dresses for her sister Mamie, quilts, and doll clothes for her grandchildren. If she wasn’t sewing she was crocheting. She could crochet anything. She had the ability to look at a finished crocheted article and duplicate it. Some items she crocheted were bedspreads, turtle bags to cover Ivory soap bars, and lots of laced edges on women’s dime store handkerchiefs.

Reading was a great hobby of hers with romance novels being the genre of choice. She had a jewelry box of costume jewelry brooches (as seen in the picture) and on a shallow, little shelf were displayed her collection of miniature ceramic pitchers.

She and her son bought a victorian house in the Little Five Points area of Atlanta in the 40″s – 50’s and lived in the upper apartment until the last few years of her full life.

She died at home in Covington GA, 1993.

Jan 14 2013

War Fans the Flames of Love

Letter from TWG INGLETT to Martha A. PALMER TWG INGLETT letter to wife Martha A. PALMER Thomas Wilkes Glascock INGLETT left his sweet wife, Martha A. PALMER, with 3 children to fight in the Civil War. They carried on their courtship throughout the conflict through letters. T.W.G. INGLETT was 25 years old when he wrote the above tender letter to his 21 year old sweetheart wife back at home in Columbia County, GA, outside of Augusta, GA.

At the time of the letter, T.W.G. or “Tommie” was part of an army of 52,000 men in General Lee’s defense of Petersburg and Richmond, Virginia. The battle of Petersburg began in earnest in March of 1864, and in June alone over 11,000 Union soldiers lost their lives trying to take Petersburg. Over 4,000 Confederate soldiers died in it’s defense. There was a lull in fighting the first two weeks of July when Tommie wrote the letter. Within weeks the fighting started back up.

General Grant commanded the Union forces that had little success during the summer of 1864, for the Confederates were protecting their Capital and the surrounding areas with great resolve. The Union forces began a siege on Petersburg throughout the subsequent winter to cut off supplies to the Confederate soldiers. The city finally fell April 3, 1865 when General Lee abandoned both Petersburg and Richmond.

The siege of Petersburg is considered the last significant stand for the Confederate forces. The ultimate surrender took place at Appomattox Court House on April 9th, six days after the abandonment of Petersburg. T.W.G. INGLETT returned home to Georgia and Thomas Jefferson (Sandy) INGLETT was born 16 May 1871, father of Essie Lee INGLETT.

The following is a transcript of the letter, with current spelling and punctuation:

Camp Near Petersburg, VA

July 15th 1864

My dear little wife, I will drop you a few lines to inform you that I received your kind letter of July 1 and was glad to hear from you, but sorry to hear that you had got so poor. I am well and I hope this may find you and all the rest in good health. My dear, I am worn out for I have been exposed to the fire of the yankees sixty days, but I am not whipped yet. We have lost a good many men out of our Brigade. One day we lost 57 out of one of our Regiments. But it is not so bad as it has been, for we don’t sharp shoot as much as we did. I got struck with one ball on the collar bone, but it did not enter for it went through a gun before it hit me. Poor little Ned and Eli Beasley got killed on the 20th in a charge. We just have to watch day and night for the mortar shells and dodge them the best we can. The yankees are in 75 yards of us and it is a continual fire day and night. My dear I can’t give you half of the news for it would take me a month. Give my love to all of my folks and tell them to write to me. Give my Respect to babe and to your Pa and Ma and to Emma and all the rest of Ben’s folks and receive the best portion for that sweet little girl Mattie that has got my heart. God bless you my love. How bad I want to see you. I will close, my love, for this time. Good Bye Mattie until I hear from you again. Write soon to your love, Tommie Boy.

Mrs Mattie A. Inglet

My Pen is bad, my ink is pale

My love for Mattie will never fail

Look at this and think of me

T W G Inglet

Jan 11 2013

Max Augustus LINN

Max Augustus LINN 1896-1952

Max Augustus LINN was born on the 30th of August 1896 in White, Bartow County, GA. His father was Western Hardy LINN (yes, Western) and Martha A. GILREATH.

Besides Max’s birth, here are a few other things that occured in 1896:

George Burns and F. Scott Fitzgerald were born too.
Utah was admitted as the 45th state.
John Philip Sousa composed “Stars & Stripes”.
The 1st known women’s basketball game was played between Stanford and California.
Harriet Beecher Stowe and Anton Bruckner died.
The 3rd deadliest tornado in the U.S. hit St. Louis killing 255 people and injuring 1000.
An earthquake and tsunami hit Japan killing 27,000.
H.L. Smith took the 1st X-ray photograph.
The first modern Olympics were held in Athens.
Gold was discovered in Klondike, Yukon.

He married Eula Mae HOLDER on the 2nd of September 1917 in Griffin, Spaulding County, GA.

He was a barber by trade.

Max and Eula had 4 children together. Two died in infancy

His death occurred on the 30th of June 1952 at the age of 55 in Milledgeville, Baldwin County, GA.

Nice bow tie! He’s looking rather dapper.

Jan 9 2013

5 Ways to Stay Connected

I’ve been collecting bits and pieces of information about ancestors for a while – since I was a teenager. My mother introduced me to the idea when she took me on several clue gathering trips of her own. It seemed to me that there was value in finding and knowing about the people who preceded me in life and shared their DNA with me, whether they meant to or not.

My kindred dead are not the only people I’ve harvested information on. I started a couple of personal histories about myself and have kept a spotty journal over the years. My histories are not up to date, but because I wrote them early on, they have details of my life that I have forgotten since and it seems the journal keeping has become a fine source of therapy. The page always listens.

I was reading a speech by Amy Jensen in which she says, “We all have the opportunity and the responsibility to be record keepers. Beyond journals and photographs, we now have at our disposal an immense system of record keeping and sharing. Our blogs, family videos, Facebook pages, and tweets are all opportunities to inject goodness . . . into the world. Your digital footprint – your record of experiences . . . will have the greatest impact on those who are the most important to you . . . ” (for full speech see http://speeches.byu.edu/?act=viewitem&id=2023)

5 WAYS TO STAY CONNECTED

Follow a Family History Webpage (my favorite is My Kindred Tree)
Make Comments on a Webpage (like My Kindred Tree)
Contribute to a Family History Webpage (send a picture, description, story, etc. about an ancestor to My Kindred Tree website)
Have a “Virtual” Family Reunion (this would be Facebook for a some)
Tweet, Tweet (is anybody doing this? please share your experience)
Share your pictures, documents, and stories.

It is because of this “immense system” of sharing via computers, the internet and clever programs I’m able to connect with you and share my bits and pieces. The world needs a little more goodness in it.

Jan 8 2013

WWII Navy Memento of C.E. Hopkins

12.5 x 17 inch fabric banner with words: Let Freedom Ring - God Bless America" with a bell, 2 American flags and an eagle on top and a sepia toned picture of Charles E Hopkins standing outside.

WWII Fabric Memento Banner featuring Charles E Hopkins

This memento fabric banner features Charles Eugene HOPKINS. The banner itself is about 12.5 x 17 inches and looks like a silk screen type design on cotton twill fabric with a photo image in sepia tone.

The background of the banner is a wine/red hue with red, white, and blue flags. The eagle, bell, wording, fringe and thread are gold toned.

The photo image seems to be clearer in black and white rather than color.

The surroundings, time and circumstance of this unique memento are a mystery.

Dec 24 2012

A Joyous Christmas to All

A joyous Christmas to all. This past sunday our Church’s choir presented a musical program based on the theme “Out of Darkness and Into Light”. It seems that the more I learn, the more enlightened I am, even when it comes to history and ancestors. Being able to learn, be kind, expand, hope, and give are becoming part of a great whole that includes my awe and gratitude for a leader who I esteem as my Lord and Savior.
This video clip by Spire Music/Rob Gardner made me think of dark, light, awe, and a great whole centered on Jesus Christ.

Dec 16 2012

Turkey Dressing: A Family Legacy

FOOD

Yes, food is a lovely and delicious thing. Not only essential, but a strong element in developing and maintaining a family’s legacy. Jeff Anderson writes:

“Food is much more than our body’s fuel; it is an integral and sacred part of human culture that unites families and transcends generations. Many families strengthen their bond and maintain their identity by passing on recipes from generation to generation.”

For full article see <http://www.aplaceformom.com/blog/preserve-your-familys-living-legacy-12-12-12/>

There seems to be one recipe that stays alive for me – it’s DRESSING. No, not the tasty liquid stuff you put on top of green leaves, but the one made in a pan with turkey drippings.

As far as I know, the recipe has been handed down word of mouth for at least 3 generations. The ingredients are simple but how much to use of them contributes to the legacy. I don’t think they’ve ever been measured and recorded. Here’s an attempt:

1 round skillet of cornbread (cooked ’til brown in a cast iron pan)
bread pieces torn in little pieces (some hotdog buns for good flavor)
turkey drippings (a lot)
1-2 onions (I think white ones are best, Vidalias aren’t strong enough)
2-5 stalks celery (crispy fresh stalks are preferable to old, wilty variety)
1-4 eggs, raw

Tear up all the bread and mix together. Blend (meaning: whiz in a blender until you can’t tell what it is) the onion and celery with the turkey drippings (from a turkey that’s been cooking for about 8 hours in a low oven inside a foiled sealed roasting pan). Add the blended-up liquidy mixture to the bread – and this is important – mix with your fingers. Add enough turkey drippings/broth to moisten all the bread sufficiently so it has the consistency of partially congealed jello. Add eggs and salt and pepper to taste. Stir it all up (again, make sure to use your fingers). Bake for about 40-50 minutes in a 350F oven until it starts to brown on top.