Musings of a Genealogy-Nut

Family History Month is OFFICIALLY over at The Digital Scrapbook Place, but the interest was so high that the forums, a chat or two, and challenges will continue.  YAY!

The forum for those involved in the planning has evolved into a sharing gen-adventures email list.  There are some professionals sharing searching techniques with some who are just starting their own searches.  "Start with what you know." has been the advice passed on again and again in forums and chats.

I finally pulled out a "book" written in the 1960s by my mother's first cousin on their Hodges line.  I glanced through it before and grabbed a few dates and names but I have come so much farther since then.  The cousin was a professional history textbook writer for the state of Michigan so he was meticulous in his research and footnotes.  That made it easy on me.  The last half of the folder of papers was pertinent pages from another book written by a different ancestor, "The Benjamin Family in America" .  When the cousin xeroxed his manuscript for my mother, the title page and cover page were not included so I don't really know the name of his book OR the publication date.  I am guessing it is "For the Descendants of Alice Benjamin and Abraham Hodges" or something like that.  I also do not know if copies were submitted to any libraries or to the Gen Center in Salt Lake City.  Their similar books are indexed according to the last name anyway, so I know where and how to search for it.  Now if I could just see my way clear to return to that library some day.

St. Dunstan Church in Canterbury, England

I became fascinated with the reference to the Reverend William Eddye who was the Vicar of St. Dunstan Church in Canterbury, England in the late 1500s.  His daughter, Abagail, and some of her siblings made the voyage to America within a few years of his death.  The Vicar is my 7th great-grandfather.

When I searched for his name on the Internet, there were a lot of writings by others descended from his line.  Some great research has been done and wonderful tidbits are out there, like his last will and testament.  One excellent writing is here.    He lived in Elizabethan time, the time of Shakespeare so wording of the will is exotic to us today.  I assume that his daughter, Abagail Eddye, my 6th great-grandmother, and her siblings took their inheritance and bought land in "The New World" for whatever reason.  I am now searching for more information on the children of The Rev. Eddye and, hopefully, a description of their voyage to America.  They are described as among American's first Puritan stock.

Parsonage of St. Dunstan Church in Canterbury, England

There is also an inventory of the Reverend's estate which describes the inside of his house in detail.  Now I have a great desire to travel to Canterbury to see, not only the church, but see if I can find the Parsonage, if it is still standing.

I also wonder if there is a sketch or painting of the Reverend tucked away somewhere in the church store rooms.  So far nothing has surfaced on the Internet, but I am still looking.


My own descent from The Reverand William Eddye is:
 1. William Eddye (1568-1616) married Mary Munn Fosten (1568-1611)
 2. (daughter) Abigail Eddye (1601-1687) married John Benjamin (1598-1645) Immigrated to America aboard the ship Lyon in 1632. Settled in Mass...Puritans, Patriots 
 3. (son) Joseph Benjamin (1633-1699) married Sarah Clarke (1639-17??)
 4. (son) Joseph Benjamin (1673-1738) married Elizabeth Cooke (?-?
 5. (son) Joseph Benjamin (1699-1803) married Deborah Clark (1710-?)
 6. (son) Elija Benjamin (1725-1752) married Hannah Taft (1747-1802
 7. (son) Elias Benjamin (1750-1863) married Rhoda Paddock (1785-1858)
 8. (son)Edmund Benjamin (1806-1887) married Dyantha Bayne (1816-1878)
 9. (daughter) Alice Jane Benjamin (1851-1909) married Abraham Hodges (1837-1923)
10. (daughter) Laura Hodges (1873-1931) married Louis Oehring (1873-1932)
11. (daughter) Eunice Fay Oehring (1911-2004) married Clifford Scarlett Anderson (1907-1995) 
12.  (daughter) me

Well, it is at The Digital Scrapbook Place.  For some reason the long time family history chats have been attended less and less.  Not so the chats based on Family History this month.  It is amazing how much knowledge is out there.  I feel as if there was no way to share it with so many.  How to start, what to do with your information, how to organize your pages, where to go to find more.  Sometimes it is hard to remember who is supposed to be leading the chats as everyone has so much to share.

Right now the Family History Chats are on Tuesdays at 8 PM EST and Thursdays at 10 PM EST.  Somehow, the other chats all week long end up centering on Family History, too. 

There is an awesome tutorial on "Restoring and Tinting a Badly Faded Photo for Advanced Photoshop Users" by Carole Harden.  I printed that out immediately and set to work.  Here are two of my results.

  Another topic has been what to do if you don't have photos.  Here are a couple of my solutions.

A Memorial Arch among the family plots

In 1963, on our sort-of-honeymoon, we visited my new husband's family in Savannah, Georgia.  I had never been further South than Ohio so the live oaks, Spanish moss, wrought iron balconies, fountains and square parks were just fascinating in spite of the August heat.

I made sure my children, who I ended up raising on my own, always knew they had a large family in Savannah.  Recently, I started looking for genealogy information about that part of the family and learned that many branches of that family go way back to before the revolution, coming from a place called "Io", apparently an area of Switzerland.  The elderly grandmother I met in 1963 was a Bourguin, and they, too, dated back to original Georgia settlers with hefty land grants.  I also learned the Bashlors were buried in Bonaventure Cemetery, the gorgeous old burial ground featured in the 1993 movie, Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil.

The overhanging Live Oaks with Spanish Moss form a cathedral ceiling.

There are others, but I will search for those next time.

My children's great-grandparents, James and Mary (Maimie)

James Roberson Bashlor    b. May 5, 1902   d. May 20, 1976      Dweese Gupton Bashlor  b. Nov 20, 1903  d. Nov 22, 1993    
 I am not sure of the relationship of this couple to my children.

Ralph Burns Bashlor, Apr 26, 1907 - Nov 18, 1916

Lynda Suzanne, Daughter of Nell and Bobby Bashlor, Oct 31, 1948 to Nov 2, 1948

Franklin King, son of Ruth G Krystal King, June 15, 1929 - June 15, 1948

Frank Sloat Bashlor Aug 31, 1890  to  Dec 12, 1922

I have no idea at this time how these people are related, but as soon as I can start their family tree, and start searching for clues I will have this put together.