How I knocked down my first brick wall

Familysearch.org is a secret I found only a short time ago.

I had been trying to find the maiden name of my two times great grandmother Lou.

First, I had no clue what her real name was.  Grandma Lou is all my mother had ever known.  

All of the records I had come across & those given to me by family members never mention any other name other than Lou Wickliffe.

I posted a message on the ancestry.com message board.  (Something I rarely do, but I was trying everything I'd learned to do to knock down a brick wall.)  Someone actually responded to me & asked me if I had tried finding my great, great grandparents marriage record on familysearch.  I had never even heard of the site.  

Long story short, 

Ancesty.com has a great video collection on YouTube.

All about me

This is one of my first professional pictures.

This week's Wednesday's child is none other than........

ME!

I've done hours & hours of research on the family I know & family I've never met, but I've never blogged about the author of this blog.......ME.

Born a week late, my parents had no idea how special their first child would be.  

I loved Barbie, my cat & anything sour when I was a kid.

My parents would eventually marry other people & when it was all said & done, I have 7 siblings-5 sisters & 2 brothers.

Looking at this photo, I don't see the Wickliffe in me (especially not the hair), but I know it's there.

Greenville, KY

Aunt Pal

It wasn't until I started researching my family tree that I found out her real name was Audrey.

The only member of my mother's family that I knew going up (besides her siblings), was Aunt Pal.

When I was 15, we moved across the street from Aunt Pal & Uncle Eddie.  

She was the first person to show me a picture of my grandmother.  (It's a picture of Grandma holding Uncle Lonnie.  I remember ever detail about that picture.  I also remember thinking how white my Grandmother looked.)  

She had birds in a cage in her family room & I loved going over to poke at the cage.

She also still had Barbie's so as a little kid, going to her house was cool.  

She once let me borrow the book Gone with the wind.  

When she gave it to me, she told me that it had been in our family for years & not to lose it. 

(Of course, at 16, I lost it.)

Hiawathe Crowe, her first husband, another surprise to me.  

Uncle Eddie is the only uncle I've ever known about, but my mother told me he was not Carl's (her son) dad.Hiawathe & Aunt Pal married on August 29, 1934.  I'm really not sure when they divorced, but he is back living his mother in the 1940 census. Also, she & Uncle Eddie were married April fool's day in 1947.

Speaking of the 1940 census, I wonder where I can Aunt Pal?  

I found Carl with my great grandparents in Muhlenberg, but she isn't mentioned.I can't find her in Indianapolis until 1947 when she married Uncle Eddie.  

The other Harrison Wickliffe

Since I started tracing my family tree, I've run into the duplicate name issue.

Of course, my great grandfather was my first experience with this.

Harrison Wickliffe was a popular name in Kentucky in the 1800's.  I've found 3:

• The oldest was born around 1815 in Danville, KY (in the heart of Kentucky).  He married Casina Wickliffe & they had 3 sons (Rowan, Joseph & Beatty) and a daughter (Florence).
• Rowan, (a teacher I recently found out through census record), married Sarah Alice Wickliffe & their first son was named Harrison.
• My great grandfather didn't name his first son (my grandfather) after himself.  
• He must have been named after his grandfather/my great grandmother Probia's father Alfred Collins.

I've have to be careful saving records because of the names of course, but the similar locations & birthdays.

7 things I learned about South Carrollton, KY

The best part about searching family tree is finding out about where they came from.  
Learning about Muhlenberg county Kentucky has really been an adventure.  Here are a few things I've learned so far.

1. South Carrollton currently only has about 185 people living there now.  (Only 5 of them are black.)  At one time, there were at almost 1, 000.
2. One of the first mining accident was the one that killed my great uncle Leslie Gatton.  (See my previous post about the Moody mine explosion.)
3. Originally, the town was called Old Randolph farm.  Later it was changed to Carrollton, KY (after the first postmasters grandson-Carroll McGowan).  The south was added on to distinguish it from Carroll county, KY.
4. S.C. is the smallest town in Muhlenberg.  The whole town is less than a quarter of a mile.
5. It has a 0% unemployment rate, however, the average salary is less than $19,000.
6. Due to it's close proximity to Bowling Green, KY & Evansville,IN, at one point, it was considered be a prime river boat stop.
7. Even though the Green river flows in S.C, one of the reasons for the declining population was the water shortage.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/South_Carrollton,_Kentucky

Looking for more info on Muhlenberg county? coggle.it link on the right.

I can't wait to visit.

Alfred & Bessie's boys

My uncles when they were babies.

Of my 4 uncles, I have only had the opportunity to spend time with one, my Uncle Dennis.  

The oldest,  Uncle Bernard (Gene) died in 1999.  
As far as I know, he lived in Minneapolis until he passed.

I don't know if he ever got married or had any children.

This picture was taken in my grandparents backyard.  

My grandparents house at 917 N. Tremont no longer stands, but this photo was most likely taken shortly after they moved there.
As far as when this photo was taken, I would assume before 1957. 

Anyone know when?

The city looked a lot different back then.