Tag Archives: #Saturday night fun

Then and Now – Atkinson 1953

Cleages, Photographs, Saturday Night Genealogy Fun, , ,

The “Saturday Night Fun” assignment from Randy Seaver at Genea-Musings (along with some of the fine results) can be found here.  It involved picking out a photograph to use in this challenge for August 16 by the Family Curator.  For the original challenge you hold up an old photograph and match it up to the present day scene.  This means you have to be in the area.  Unfortunately, I live far from the sites of my past and that of my ancestors so I was am not able to do this exactly.  I also was not able to just choose my photo and let it go at that. Here is what I did.

The parsonage now and us back in 1953.

In 2004 I spent a day driving around Detroit taking photographs of places where I used to live and of other houses family members lived in.  The angle of this house fit almost perfectly with the photograph taken in 1953 of my father with my little sister Pearl and me.  We are in front of the parsonage on Atkinson. My father was the minister of St. Mark’s Presbyterian Church, two blocks up the street on the corner of 12th Street and Atkinson.

My sister and I shared the bedroom on the upper left.  We used to look out of the side window into the attic of Carol and Deborah. They were our age and lived next door and got to stay up much later then we did. They had a wonderful playroom in the attic.  I taught Pearl to read by the streetlight shinning into our bedroom.  I don’t know why we waited until we were supposed to be in the bed to teach and learn reading.

On our other side lived Eleanor Gross with her family. Eleanor was a teenager and babysat with us during the rare times our parents went out.  My paternal grandparents lived down the street and I have a 2004 photograph of that house which I think I will mix with one from the 1950’s.  I was trying to think of someone still in Detroit that I could get to take a photo from the proper angle of St. Mark’s. I like this assignment!

Where I’m From

poetry & literature, The Book of Me

(Randy Seaver of Genea Musings posted this for Saturday Night Fun.  You can also find the template here – “Where I’m From“.)

I’m from Motor City Burning.
From Jags shrimp, cousins down the
street and the River Rouge Plant.

I’m from moving every few years.
From parsonages, two family
flats, faded wine carpet and
summers in Idlewild.

I am from grape vines in
grandmother’s backyard and
collard greens in Poppy’s.

I’m from the “Cleage Look”
and Mommy’s firm closed lips. From
“Do you want to scrub floors for the
rest of your life?” and “What
were you thinking?”

I come from church starting
Congregationalists and Presbyterians. From
Black Christian Nationalists and Catholics.

I am from Alabama, Tennessee and Kentucky.
From smothered chicken, baking powder biscuits,
caramel iced cakes and sweet potato pie.

I’m from Eliza’s freedom and Dock’s
escape.  From “I know nothing about you
people.” And digging yams in the rain.

I am from slaves, seamstresses, carpenters,
doctors, teachers, auto workers and dreamers.
From Annie, Matilda, Celia and Clara.

I’m from talking and analyzing  around
the dinner table. From meetings
and protests. From newsletters and
demonstrations.  From freedom now.

I come from the creamy crumbling pages of
my father’s photo album.  From my
grandparents faded love letters. I come
from those who survived.

Where My Greatgreat Grandparents Were Born

Investigations

 I am running a bit late but Randy Seaver of Genea-Musings presented the following challenge Saturday evening:

1)  List your 16 great-great-grandparents with their birth, death and marriage data (dates and places).  [Hint – you might use an Ancestral Name List from your software for this.]

2)  Determine the countries (or states) that these ancestors lived in at their birth and at their death.

3)  For extra credit, go make a “Heritage Pie” chart for the country of origin (birth place) for these 16 ancestors. [Hint: you could use the  chart generator from Kid Zone for this.] [Note: Thank you to Sheri Fenley for the “Heritage Pie” chart idea.]

4.  Tell us about it in your own blog post, in a comment to this post, or in a post on Facebook or google+.

Because all of my Greatgreat Grandparents were born in the United States, I made a pie chart in Photoshop using the states where they were born.  “Unknown” was born either in Virginia or Tennessee.
 
Maternal Side.
Eliza Williams Allen – born a slave in Alabama. Died free 22 June 1917 in Montgomery, Alabama
Dock Allen – born a slave in Georgia about 1839.  Died free 29 May 1909 Montgomery, Alabama.
They were married about 1860 in Alabama.
Joe Turner – born a slave in Alabama about 1939. Died 7 Feb 1919 Lowndes County Alabama.
Emma Jones Turner – born a slave in South Carolina about 1840.  Died before 1909 Lowndes County Alabama. They were married in 1861 in Lowndes County, Alabama.
No death or marriage information at this time.  They lived in Elmore county and probably died there.
Pricilla – born a slave about 1832 Alabama
Joseph Jackson – born a slave about 1838 South Carolina
Going by Census information for William Graham as I have no more information about them.
William Graham’s mother – b. Alabama
William Graham’s father – b. Alabama
Paternal side.
Frank Cleage – was born a slave in North Carolina about 1816
Judy Cleage – was born a slave in Tennessee about 1814.
They were married 11 August 1866 in McMinn County, Tennessee.  I cannot find them after the 1870 census so although I think they died free in Tennessee I am not sure at this point.
Mother of Celia Rice – born a slave in Virginia. Died free in Tennessee.
Father – Unknown white male in the Rice family – born free, owned Celia’s mother. Born in either Virginia or Tennessee.  Assume died in Tennessee. No marriage involved here.
Clara Hoskins Green – born enslaved in Kentucky about 1829.  Died free in Lebanon, KY after 1880.
Robert Allen – born free 1823 in Kentucky.  White slave owner. Died in Kentucky. No marriage involved.
John Averitt – white – born free in Kentucky 28 Feb 1810 died 1894 in Kentucky.
Elizabeth Tucker Averitt – white – born Kentucky 2 Sep 1813 died in Kentucky, date unknown.
They were married 17 April 1835 in Washington County, Kentucky.

Who Was Born On My Birthday?

Saturday Night Genealogy Fun,

The Saturday Night Genealogy Fun challenge this week:

1) Is there a person in your genealogy database that has the same birth date that you do? If so, tell us about him or her – what do you know, and how is s/he related to you?

2) For bonus points, how did you determine this? What feature or process did you use in your software to work this problem out? I think the Calendar feature probably does it, but perhaps you have a trick to make this work outside of the calendar function.

Me, my niece,Deignan and my step-grandaughter, Maya.

 I  found three people in my Reunion data base with my birthday.  
1.  My niece Deignan was born on August 30, 29 years after I was.
2.  My step-grandaughter Maya was born on August 30, 58 years after I was.
3.  Elizabeth Ferguson was born 22 years before I was and is the wife of my first cousin twice removed husband’s great uncle.  In other words, she is not a blood relative but a result of one of my wandering searches.

It took me some time to figure out how to find this information in my REUNION genealogical software, which is why I am posting on Sunday night instead Saturday.  I found it by going to my calendar, under LIST, then picking Birth as the event, include ALL PEOPLE, month of AUGUST and then picking LIST.  I got a window with all the August birthdays, scrolled down to August 30 and voila, there they were.

Going back in time

Eliza, Investigations

Another interesting assignment from Randy Seaver – Saturday Night Genealogy Fun – The Time Machine

Your mission, should you decide to accept it, is to:

1) Determine which event in your ancestral history that you would love to be a witness to via a Time Machine. Assume that you could observe the event, but not participate in it.

2) Tell us about it in a blog post of your own, in a comment to this blog post, or in a comment on Facebook.

Although it took me until Sunday morning to decide, I chose to be present when my first female ancestor from Eliza’s line appears, enslaved, on these shores.  I want to know where she landed and where she came from. Was she a Mende, as my DNA test suggests?  Were any of her people with her?   I want to be there when she was sold to see what plantation she was taken to and who her first owner was.  I want to know what her family named her and what slave name she was given.

An Ancestral Home on Google Maps

Cleages, Saturday Night Genealogy Fun, , ,
910 Fayette Indianapolis Indiana – two story house on the right- Google maps

I decided to accept the  Saturday night challenge. After looking and not finding anything but parking lots and weed covered land where my ancestors used to live, I found 910 Fayette standing. For several years I was confused about which house it was because the houses in Indianapolis were renumbered and it turned out it was the two story house on the right and not the little gray/blue one on the left.

My father, Albert Buford Cleage, Jr, was born in this house on June 13, 1911. His parents had married the year before after Albert completed his medical training and received his physician’s license. The three Cleage brothers, Jacob, Henry and Albert and wives Gertrude and Pearl shared the house until the following year when Albert opened a practice in Kalamazoo Michigan and moved his family there.

My Matrilineal Line and More

Eliza,

 Today while visiting blogs I came across this  Saturday Night Genealogy Fun – Matrilineal Line on Mavis Jones’ blog, Georgia Crackers.  Mavis got it from Randy Seaver’s, Genea-Musings.  Even though it’s only Friday, and not even the week when the challenge was given,  I decided to do it.   I added my grandchildren and children to the mix.

In the photo montage above, starting from top left are – My great grandmother Jennie  with her daughters, Fannie (my grandmother) Daisy standing and youngest, Alice with the big bow in her hair.  Next photo is of Eliza, my great great grandmother.  Top right is my mother, Doris Graham Cleage with my little sister Pearl and me.  Bottom row left photo is of my sister Pearl and I with our daughters – Ife, Ayanna, Jilo, Deignan and I am holding Tulani.  Last photograph is of my grandaughters – Kylett in purple (she’s my son’s daughter so not actually in my matrilineal line), Abeo in back, Tatayana in pink, Hasina in light pink and Sydney in front in green.  We have no photograph of Annie Williams, our earliest identifiable fore-mother.

1) List your matrilineal line – your mother, her mother, etc. back to the first identifiable mother. Note: this line is how your mitochondrial DNA was passed to you!

My Matrilineal Line – Forwards and Backwards
My granddaughters who are daughters of my daughters
My daughters
Me – 1946 (Springfield, MA)
Doris Juanita Graham 1923 (Detroit, MI) – 1982 (Detroit, MI)
Fannie Mae Turner 1888(Hayneville, AL) – 1974 (Detroit, MI)
Jennie Virginia Allen abt 1871 (Montgomery AL)- 1954 (Detroit, MI)
Eliza Williams abt 1839 (Alabama) – 1917 (Montgomery, AL)
Annie Williams abt 1820 (South Carolina) – after 1900 Montgomery, AL)

2) Tell us if you have had your mitochondrial DNA tested, and if so, which Haplogroup you are in.

My first test was with African Ancestry in 2007.  They didn’t name a Haplogroup but said the variations matched the Mende in Sierra Leone.
In 2008 I re-tested with Family tree  to become part of a Black Belt Genealogy DNA study.  The results were – FTDNA HVR1 Haplogroup  – L3e3

3) Post your responses on your own blog post, in Comments to this blog post, or in a Note or status line on Facebook.

8 Responses to My Matralineal Line and More

  1. Ms Vicky says:
    May 28, 2010 at 12:49 am

    Great pictures of your family and all good looking to boot. Thanks for sharing

    Reply
  2. Leslie Ann says:
    May 28, 2010 at 5:06 am

    What a beautiful family you have!

    Reply
  3. J says:
    May 28, 2010 at 7:54 am

    Very nice post. I too have an Eliza in my family. I love the way you presented your family lineage.Thanks for sharing.~Joann

    Reply
  4. Luckie says:
    May 28, 2010 at 11:35 am

    What a beautiful Family Kristin! I am so excited to see you blogging & sharing!:-)Who is that on your Twitter icon image? She looks A LOT like my Great-Grandma Jackson!:-)Luckie.

    Reply
  5. Kristin says:
    May 28, 2010 at 3:05 pm

    Thanks for the compliments everybody. The twitter image is my great-grandmother, Jennie Virginia Allen Turner of Montgomery AL. she is the daughter of Eliza and Dock Allen. I’ll be posting something my mother wrote about her soon.

    Reply
  6. Kristin says:
    May 28, 2010 at 3:11 pm

    Luckie, my mother’s father’s mother was a Jackson but he was very secretive about his family and I know nothing about them aside from a few stories from his boyhood and a bunch of suppositions. He was born in Coosada Station, Elmore County, AL.

    Reply
  7. June 3, 2010 at 12:58 pm

    I love the matrilineal photos — and it’s a beautiful blog, Kris!! Christine

    Reply
  8. Kristin says:
    June 3, 2010 at 3:31 pm

    thanks christine! so much easier then when i was doing ruffdraft :-D