Matrilineal/Military Monday

It's been a while since I've been into the swing of working on my genealogy blog. I've only recently got back into the habit of daily genealogy research and newsletter writing for my family.

So I wanted to start back with the GeneaBloggers daily prompts today. Thomas can always get you in the mood for some fun and antics in genealogy, as well as inspire you to further your research!

Today I chose a dual subject for Monday. Both Matrilineal and Military. Why? Because I have not honored my Mom since her death on this blog. (Heck, I haven't written but once on the blog since her death!)

Lois Velleda Dreher was born in 1938 in Indiana and passed away in 2015 in West Virginia. On both occasions she was surrounded by those who loved her most. In between the two dates, she lived a life full of service to our country and to those who were in need. She never shirked her duty. At times to her children she had to be both Mother and Father, as her spouse was a military man. During those times, I am sure it was especially tough. But she never complained.

She was introduced to the man who would become her husband while she was in the Women's Army Corps (or more affectionately known as the WAC's). The friend who introduced her was also in the WAC's. The two women were friends until the very end.

Lois was a lovely woman. Although she'd never tell you she thought herself pretty or handsome. My memories of her will forever be tainted with the scent of her Tabu cologne. I pass someone in the market, and for a brief moment I look around and wonder where my Mother is hiding to jump out and make us both laugh!

I've seen her cut her grass in a sandy yard on the beach with a pair of sewing shears, and replace the carburetor in the car. And yet again, sit in the floor and play Barbie's with her two little girls who wanted Mommy to play with them. As well as read the family Bible and have prayer each evening; never forgetting to ask God to watch over Daddy who was away at sea. When I was older, she asked me what dress I wanted to wear to the spring prom, and I showed her a picture in a catalog for a dress I knew we didn't have the money for. Yet, when it came time for the dance, I wore that very dress. Only, Mommy had made it with her own two hands, without even a pattern to go by, just the photo in the catalog. My friends never knew it was a handmade a dress. That's how good of a seamstress she was. She taught herself to crochet, and she could make anything, simply by looking at a picture of it. Flowers, dolls, sweaters, afghans, and doilies.

As a teen I saw my Mom grow a garden and then can everything in it for winter. She put up thousands, and yes you read that right, thousands of quarts of vegetables every year. Going to the grocery store meant for disposable items like toilet paper, napkins, and dish soap. I've seen her churn butter and make cheese.

And I've seen her sit quietly by the side of the bed of someone dying. Holding their hand, or wiping their brow. Praying when they asked, aloud. And silently the whole while. I've seen her start a bus ministry from scratch, needing a 64 passenger bus in the end to transport the children and adults to church. I've seen her teach children's Bible scouts. Bible quizzing. Sunday school. And Bible school.

I've seen her spend years caring for the elderly in the community. Solving minor crises within the community. And offering transportation or counseling to those in need. More than once I've seen a troubled couple show up on the doorstep and ask for Mom and Dad's help when their marriage had hit hard times. Why? Were my parents any different than so many others? My parents had endured through a military marriage. They had to put Country ahead of Family. And they both knew that. The only difference was that they put God before either. And that made all the difference in the world. I've seen those same couples who came seeking help still together after many years.

My Mother left a legacy behind that few today can lay claim too. As she lay dying, all of her four children, were at the bedside around the clock. Her last few breaths were taken with the four of us and my Dad praying, our hands holding each others, over Mom. It was a somber time. And yet, we looked forward to Mommy's graduation day in Heaven! We knew when her last breath here was over, she'd be taking her first in Heaven, with purest of air! And we rejoiced that she would be the first to see our Savior!

Mommy entered the military in 1957. She married a handsome sailor in 1958. And she was discharged in early 1959, expecting her first child. Me.

My Mommy was my hero! She was not only my Mommy, I had the distinct honor, and privilege of calling her my teacher, my counselor, and my best friend.

On July 30, 2015 she stepped away from the mortal realm, and began her eternal walk with Jesus. I can only imagine that little has changed about her. She wasn't perfect by any means. But she was about as close to it as anyone I've ever known, and I am proud to be her daughter.

Lois Velleda Dreher Beane

1938-2015

Back In The Saddle Again

Back In The Saddle Again

Hello to all of my family and friends, who have supported me while I took the last two years off to just let go, and Let God! Sometimes we simply have to separate ourselves from all things in order to get to that sweet spot that God preserves for us. And I thank you all for allowing me time to do that.

So, with that being said, Mountain Genealogists, and therefore, the Monroe Bean Newsletter are back up and running. Our first newsletter should be ready in the next couple of days. Those who have been with us for so long will recall that I previously kept two blogs. This one for business, and another for the family newsletter. From now on, they will all be combined into this single blog page. And the newsletter will be transformed from The Monroe Bean's to Mountain Genealogists. 

Mountain Genealogists takes me back to that thrilling time when I met with the elders of our family and the first bug for family genealogy bit me. Many of you will remember Fannie Bell Beane and her husband, Jim, who did so much for our family genealogy! We have built upon their foundation, and I will always be indebted to Fannie's tireless research! I miss her very much, and I know one day, when I pass from this life, I will sit down with her and we will not only talk about the Beane family, but get to see those we are talking about as well!

Sometime after the New Year we will be doing another DNA test. This time to discover the haplogroup that tells us where the majority of our ancestry comes from. Yes. We will finally be able to say with a relative certainty whether our line of Bean's comes from Scotland or Ireland. 

Clan MacBean Tartan

 

In our newsletter, we will also be featuring a new section which will feature "famous" relatives, as found through  new research. These will all be verified, which means you can count on these being correct.

Last, we have begun work on a trilogy of fiction based on fact of the Bean's of Monroe County. This is a project I outlined several years ago, and will be working on it daily. This will take some time to complete, but it is something you can look forward to in future print.

 

Once we have completed these three novels, we will begin work on a complete, referenced, genealogical study of William Bean (1792-1864) and his descendants. When that work begins, we will be reaching out to everyone to assist us with updates. (The last one was written by Fannie Beane, and was written before many of our young adults were even born!) This will be in a bound book form for passing onto your children and grandchildren.

As before, I would love to have guest writer's each month. This does not have to be professionally written, and the subject is up to the writer. Have a poem you've written? A short story? Song lyrics? Or would you like to relate something about an ancestor? You can email it to cynthiahenry@consultant.com Because of digital newsletters, there is no limit to the size of article you submit. Just remember that you want to hold your audience captive during their entire time reading. So, send us your stories! We'd love to have them. We would also love to have birth and death announcements. Achievements. And photographs.

I look forward to sending you the newsletter in a few days! So be watching your email in box. Be sure to have our email address listed in your contacts so that the newsletter will arrive safely to you and not be put in your junk, or spam, folder. That email address is texicanwife@hotmail.com

 

And last, beginning in January we will be keeping copies of our newsletter. At the end of each year, we will be printing these newsletters into a bound book. These will be inexpensive and within a price range most everyone can afford. This will make a lovely gift to pass down to future generations. 

Be watching for your newsletter!

Cyndi Beane Henry

Mountain Genealogists

 

Surname Saturday - 21 November 2009

The name I research the most for my family line, is naturally, my maiden name. It began as "Bean", or at least for 3 generations before my father it was "Bean". In our particular line, it wasn't until the 20th century when family members began changing the spelling to "Beane". My own grandfather's last name was spelled "Bean". But I am getting ahead of myself here.

It is believed that before 1792 the spelling was actually "McBean". And that particular ancestor [my gr-gr-gr-grandfather] is believed to have been a conscripted soldier in the American Revolution from either Ireland or Scotland [DNA evidence pushes that possibility more to Ireland than Scotland]. Family lore states he "served under Lord Cornwallis" during the Revolution. We know he received land grants in the western lands of Virginia [into what is now West Virginia]. He disappears from all records about 1803-1804, and his children are placed for indenture in 1804. His land is sold in 1805 for back taxes. And his widow is listed on the tax rolls of 1805 as owing "nothing atall, owning only her spinning wheel and clothes".

The next generation is immediately known at birth as "Bean". There were 2 of the brothers. One had a rather large family. And the other, has had no spouse or family found on record to date. He died alone, with only a friend reporting his death, and his grave unknown.

The brother with family married and had 13 children. All of these children were born with the last name "Bean". But it is with this generation that we begin to see a division in those utilizing the "e" on the end of the name. There are complete lines of this generation that remain without the "e" to this very day. However, most have morphed into the now known "Beane".

My gr-grandfather was in that generation. His was a rather strange case, as at times he used the "e" on the end of his name, and at others he did not. Even reflecting this uncertainty in his own signatures, sometimes signing with- sometimes signing without. However, his children were all born without the "e" on the end of their name.

My own grandfather falls into this next generation. Grandpa was adamant that the family not have the "e" on the end of their name. And each child was born with the last name "Bean". Their birth records ALL reflect this. However, as they reached adulthood, each and every one adopted the little alphabetical change to their name. My own Dad's birth certificate lists his last name as "Bean", however, all other documents reflect his name as "Beane". By the time I came along, and all of my cousins, the "e" was a permanent fixture.

I do have "cousins" from the other branches of our family, in Kentucky and Arizona, whohave remained true to the "Bean" name. That is if one can say the name is true! We know that it metamorphed from McBean to Bean before it ever transformed to Beane.

It will be interesting to peek into our name in another 300 years, and see just what it has become by then! Perhaps "Bene" or Biene" or Bien" or just "Ben".

Only time will tell.