Jimmie

 This is Jimmie.  See previous posts for info.

Liberal Missouri picture

 Wilma, also from Liberal Missouri, was about 12 in this picture.  I know more about her and would love to get this picture to her family. Send me a message through this blog and convince me she belongs to you and I'll mail you the original.  Don't wait too long as I'll forget where I put the picture!

Liberal, Missouri school picture

 This is Charles who is probably about 12 in this picture.  Probably a school picture from Liberal, Missouri.  Possibly Excelior School. No idea of his last name.  Nothing written on back of picture.  If he belongs to your family send me a message through this blog.  Tell me what year you think he was born in.  You can have the picture if you convince me he is your family.  Don't wait too long.  I'm not keeping the picture forever. 

old email addresses

Looking for email addresses of bsballmom@aol.com and bsballmom@swbell.net that were used on genealogy queries?  Send me a message through this blog if you are trying to reach either of these email addresses.

Headstone Fun

 Part of the fun of genealogy is walking cemeteries and seeing all the unique headstones.  The most recent cemetery walked had headstones with sayings like 'best wife ever' and 'superstar' on them.  It gives me ideas for my own headstone.

Why is your last name different?

Why did one child have a different last name?  Foster child?  Let's say his last name was Craft.

Found the legal notice where one daughter of Craft changed her last name to Smith.  Interesting.  Why did she change it?

After lots of searching I find Craft's biological mother was married to the biological father Smith when Craft was born.  She deserted him and he had to go to court to get visitation for the Craft child.  She gave the child her maiden name for a middle name and at some point his last name became her new husband's name of Craft.  He raised the son like his own, but the child must have had some connection to the bio father as all of the children claimed him as a brother in their obits and he (Craft) claimed them, but his name was always Craft.

I wonder if the two daughters/granddaughters changed their name after finding out how the grandma treated the bio father Smith, their bio grandfather?  Maybe there was no 'treatment.'  Maybe this was all amicable. 

There's a story or two here.  I don't necessarily need to know the details.  I know enough and have enough documentation to figure out the child is biologically a cousin.  It took hours to untangle this  That's enough for me. 

By the way, the names Craft and Smith have nothing to do with this family.  I made the names up because I thought having names helped clarify the issues.

My Three Sons

 My great-grandmother on my dad's side has a sister with three sons. I could find information on two of the three. The third was a huge mystery. Today I tried a different search for him in the death certificates and bingo! He has a different last name than his brothers even though his mother would put him down in the census as the same last name as one of the brothers. All three boys have different last names. One born in the 1860's, one in the 1870's and the last in the 1880s. I don't know if she married any of the dads as I always find her with her maiden name. I know she wasn't married to the dad of the son I found today. She took him to court for fortification and bastardization.