SNGF ... Come Sunday Morning

I am always late with these prompts! [Once in a while I manage to actually get to a Saturday Night Genealogy Fun challenge that Randy Seaver readies for us on GeneaMusings]

Last night's challenge?

"Awake and arise, you wonderful Genea-Musings blog-readers, and know that it is Saturday Night - time again for more Genealogy Fun!




We all have "brick wall ancestors" - those for whom we cannot find a complete name, or identify a set of parents. By posting information about a "brick wall ancestor," someone mght find your post and be able to contribute to your knowledge about that ancestor.



Your mission, should you decide to accept it (and I sincerely hope that you do) - is to check your files and sources, advance to your keyboard, and:



1) Identify one of your "brick wall ancestors," and tell us about him or her. What do you know? What would you like to know?



2) Tell us about this person in a blog post of your own, a comment on this blog post, or a Facebook comment or note. Be sure to leave a way for readers to contact you."

I have one main person in my brickwall "list", that I revisit over and over. That is my paternal great-great-great grandfather. William McBean.

We do not know where William came from [although we suspect he was Irish, DNA leads us to those craggy shores]. William is first found in this country in 1780 in Augusta County, Virginia, where he married the lovely Sarah Bane. [A descendant of one of the Bean brothers who first graced the shores of this country in the late 1600's, and from whose ancestry William may have also descended.

William is purported to have been a Loyalist during the Revolution, as told in family lore. However, there are several William McBean/ MacBean/ McBane/ MacBane's who are found on Loyalist and Tory lists. We are told in family legend that he served "under Cornwallis". Unfortunately, that is tantamount to someone saying their great-grandfgather served under Lee or Grant during the Civil War! Or grandpa under Patton during WWII!!!

After his marriage to Sarah, William moved into western Virginia, into what is now bordering West Virginia, along an area called Stoney Creek. Today, Stoney Creek is a deep ravine that runs straight up and down. At that time, it was useless except for trappers, and was little more than a passage through the break in the mountains between the tiny hamlet of Waiteville, WV and Pembroke, VA.

In 1790 the couple had a son named John, and in 1792 a son named William.

In February 1804, John is placed for indenture in Monroe County. His parents are not named, he is listed as an orphan. He is thirteen years of age. In September of 1804 his brother William is being placed for indenture as well. He was 12.  John was to be taught to be a weaver, and William a blacksmith.

We know that the boy's father must be dead at this point, for them to be named as orphans. However, their mother is found in 1805 on the Monroe County Tax Rolls as "Sarah Bean - Widow" her taxes listed as "Owing nothing atall - owning only her clothes and spinning wheel".

The property on Stoney Creek was sold in 1805 for back taxes.

John is not heard from again until his death certificate in 1872, when he is reported as single, being born in Greenbrier County, and nothing regarding his family. He died of reasons "Unknown". [His death is indexed as "Beard" but on examination of the handwritten text it is clearly Bean.

Of William, we know quite a lot. And William Bean is in fact, my great-great-grandfather. [His history is quite full, and a rich and colorful story!]

After 1805, Sarah Bean disappears from history, and we do not find her again.

It is Sarah's husband, WIlliam, that we would like to learn more about. Where he came from. When and how he died. His military service for the Crown [if that is true]. And his parentage.

And now you know... my brick wall!

Madness Monday

Okay, so I don't know why I have a case of the "jitters", but I do.

I am scheduled to speak before an afternoon group at the local library. They are estimating that 25 or so people will attend the talk I will present on "Beginning Your Family Tree", or "From the Roots Up".

But suddenly I am overwhelmed with a bad case of the heebie-jeebies!

While I am not a proliferic orationist, I have spoken before groups on several occasions. Some larger than this, some smaller.

So why am I nervous this time???

Of the 25 or so individuals who have signed up for this lecture, about 18 of them are former high school classmates!!! Several of whom have gone on to some pretty amazing career's! And here they will all be looking to me to be the "expert" in my field!

Oh, to have the looks of Megan Smolenyak, the ease of speaking to others as Dick Eastman, or the quick wit of Randy Seaver, or the "down-home"  at ease of Dr. Bill Smith!

I tell myself, "Take a deep breath, and relax!"

I step before the group....

... and I carry all of those individuals, and too many more to mention, right there with me as I open my mouth and begin the lecture, which flows easily from within me. My notecards never touched, I deliver the lecture, and at the close I answer questions from the group, and before we are dismissed by the local historical society president, I am awarded a standing ovation!

So, why the "Madness"?

For all of the jitters, the heebie-jeebies, and the nerves, I don't have another lecture scheduled!

Kind of like watching a scary movie, that was fun! When can I do it again??? LOL

By the way... thanks guys for all of your inspiration!!! Without listening to your lectures, your speeches, and reading your books and blogs, I don't think I could have made it through the afternoon!

My First Home[s]

Randy Seaver, over at GeneaMusings gave us some wonderful information on the use of Google Maps for genealogy.

This Christmas, as I have done for each new grandchild, I am putting together a genealogy work for my new granddaughter, Kaylee Ann, in my own handwriting. It is more like a scrapbook, and is not as detailed with the ancestors as a tree research project. But thanks to Randy, Kaylee's book will be different from any other grandchild's book. Kaylee's will have pictures of the homes I grew up, in my early years!

Oh, there are snapshots of me and my sister by a front door here, or a back door there, but we had no photographs showing entire houses. That is until Thursday when I visited Google Maps.

Below are photographs from Google Maps of 4 of the 5 houses I grew up in in the Naval port of Norfolk, Virginia. [The very first place, unfortunately, is no longer there, demolished for a shopping center.]




9526 15th Bay Street - This is where we lived when my baby sister was born in 1961. You can just see the little duplex to the rear here [the beige looking house.]
9570 15th Bay Street. This is where we lived until my Grandma Beane came to live with us. It's a bit different than when we lived there. The attic stairs are now on the outside of the house [to the right] - they used to be pull-down stairs in the living room. And when we first moved in, a porch ran across the full front of the house. While we were there, half of the porch was enclosed to making a dining room. Now the entire front porch is enclosed.
9562 12th Bay Street. This is where we lived after Grandma Bean came to live with us. We only lived here for 1 year. This is also the home we lived in when I started 1st grade. While we lived there, to the left of the house was a swampy area, that has now been filled in, and a modern duplex constructed. To the right of the house was another home, similar to this one. It has been torn down and there is only an empty lot there now.
In 1966 Mama and Daddy bought this house:
4600 Krick Street.
This is the house where my most vivid memories were formed. The exterior of the house remains unchanged, although the landscaping is a bit plainer now. Daddy had the most beautiful, prickly, holly bushes across the front of the house. At Christmas time they would be full of red berries! And all along the side yard were a row of crepe myrtle trees. These, alas, are all gone.

Oh, but these photographs brought back so many memories!!!

While the clarity isn't the best in the world, I am still thrilled to have these to place in little Kaylee's book! She will have a printed idea of what the houses looked like that her grandmother grew up in!

Thanks Randy for the info on Google Maps!

Saturday Night Challenge - on Sunday Morning!

Last night Randy Seaver gave his Saturday Night Challenge. And as always, it's Sunday morning before I get the chance to read it!

Here's the challenge:

1) Answer these questions:

* What is your UGG - your "Ultimate Genealogy Goal" for the genealogy research that you wish to leave to your heirs, descendants and the genealogy community?

* How long do you think you have left to fulfill this ultimate goal?

* Are you prioritizing your time adequately in order to achieve this goal?

* If not, what should you do to achieve the goal?

* Will you do what you need to do?

So, for Randy, and everyone who chances to read my response, here it is:

1] My UGG - "Ultimate Genealogy Goal - has been to publish a fully documented set of genealogy books - in paper and digital format - of my own ancestry, my husband's ancestry and for the Dreher and Banet names. [Oops! Did I just steal Randy's goal??? Not really. It just so happens that our genealogy goals are very similar! The difference is that I have already published a fully documented genealogy books on my Dad's family, the Bean's. I'd like to update it now. And do a complementary book on each of the lineal branches of this family: Faudree's, Perkins, Wiseman's.]

2] I think that I have a good 35 - 40 years left to finish my task. [My mother's grandmother lived to the ripe old age of 98! My Dad's family is well known to live into their 90's! I'm 50 this year, so I feel I have adequate time to accomplish my goals. Providing I do not procrastinate!]

3] I have not prioritized my time adequately in order to achieve my goals. If I'm lucky, I also spend about 5 - 10 hours a week on my own work.

4] To achieve the UGG, I SHOULD stop blogging, stop spending time on Facebook and GenWise, reading blogs, etc. I should begin to set a determinate amount of time daily for my genealogy research business, and a determinate amount of time on my own research! [I currently get started on a project, and end up spending hours and hours without a break daily! Sometimes going for 20 hours or more before stopping!] My hubby is only home on weekends, and as my children all live away, I have all the time I choose to spend on my own pursuits.

5] Will I do what I need to do in order to achieve my UGG? Maybe. I will probably stick to it some days. But when I get caught up in someone elses research, or reading my favorite blogs, I will most likely digress and spend time on my other areas.

I agree with Randy. This wasn't exactly a "FUN" challenge. But I do agree that it is a necessary one. We need to keep track of our goals and our progress to reach them.

Now, I do believe I have 50 more genealogy blogs to read this morning. Better get started....later on my UGG!!!

Saturday Night Challenge

Randy Seaver is at it again! Giving us yet, again, a wonderful challenge for blogging! This time, Randy has challenged us with the idea: "Decide what year and what place you would love to visit as a time traveller. Who would you like to see in their environment? If you could ask them one question, what would it be?"

I don't have to think very hard for this one!

If I could go back in time to any time, I would go back to 1800 in Monroe County, Virginia [now West Virginia]. And I would have a little visit with William and Sarah McBean, and their sons, John and William [and maybe Roy?].

William and Sarah McBean are my gr-gr-gr-grandparents [my Dad's side]. I'd ask William who his parents were, and where he came from! This is my biggest brick wall.

Sometime between 1803 and 1804 William dies and his widowed wife puts their sons up for indenture. Son, William, is my gr-gr-grandfather. He is indentured to be a blacksmith apprentice on his 12th birthday. As an adult he became a gentleman farmer, and quite the wealthy gentleman for the times. He went on to marry Rachel Wiseman, and one of their many children was also named William. That William is my gr-grandfather.

William marries Margaret Perkins. And among their many children is born John Monroe Bean, my grandfather, in 1866.

John is in his 30's before he marries the first time. He goes on to marry 3 times, his first two wives dying tragically [one from tuberculosis and one from complications of child birth]. He fathered a total of 15 children, the last 3 being born after he was in his late 70's. It is from this last marriage that my Dad was born.

Needless to say I never knew my grand father. He passed away in 1954, just a few years before I was born.

But it is my gr-gr-gr-grandfather that stumps me, and has stumped the past 3 generations as well!