The other Harrison Wickliffe

Harrison Wickliffe

No known relationship to you......

That's what my Ancestry.com family tree says.  
I have no idea what relationship I have to this Harrison Wickliffe, but his story really interested me.

I first found him in the 1850 census, living with the Young family.

John C. Young & his wife Caroline lived in Boyle County, Kentucky, in Danville.  Mr. Young was the President of Centre College in the early to mid 1800's.
  

I found an article written by Lauren Garrett called Neither Northern or Southern that stated that he owned slaves, including a janitor, Harrison Wickliffe.

Harrison was first believed to be owned by state representative (at the time) Charles A Wickliffe-which is how he ended up with the surname.  

It took me awhile to find info on whether or not John Young freed him, but not only did he free Harrison, but he was also instrumental in 2 other slaves ( a female & her son) being returned to Africa (Liberia) after they were freed.  Unfortunately, they died shortly after they're arrival from cholera.

Harrison, like many other slaves, continued to work for his slave owner for another 25 plus years.  Then, he ran his own house painting business for a number of years.  

After the death of his wife Casina in 1893, he moved with his son to Chicago.  He died 12 years later. 

What happened to Odie & Leslie Harrison around 1920?

Recently, I've been going through trying to clean up my tree & find the holes in my research.

This got me to my most recent brickwall- Where were my great-grandparents in the 1920's?

My great grandmother married my great grandfather in 1926.  I know this because I found them in the Muhlenberg county marriage record.  However, in my great grandfather's WWI draft register, he list himself as married?????? 
(I believe the marriage record is the actual date since my grandmother was born the 

following year.) 

U.S., World War I Draft Registration Cards, 1917-1918

Whether they were married in 1926 or around 1917, I still can't find either one of them in 1920.  

The only census I am sure that I have found my great grandfather, Leslie in is the 1900 census.

1900; Census Place: Russellville, Logan, Kentucky; Roll: 539; Page: 6B; Enumeration District: 0038

 The 1910 census list his parents, his brothers James (married to Adah), William, Richard & 2 other sisters-Queenie & Estella, (one of which could be the Eunice mentioned in 1900) but does not mention him.

 The only Leslie Harrison I was able to locate in 1920, that lived in Russellville, was married to a Katie.  

Could they be the same couple?

In 1920, she would have been 21 & he would have been 30-so the ages are close, but who is Katie? This made me question a couple of things:

1. Was my grandparents marriage their first marriage or was he married before?
2. Is this the same Leslie Harrison?  It is in the same county, near where his parents still lived, but that doesn't mean that it's him.  (Assuming that it is the same person is how my tree got so messed up to begin with.)

I guess my next step is to find out if there is another marriage record for my great grandfather or find out if there is more than one Leslie Harrison from Kentucky, who lived in Russellville, Kentucky.

Wednesday's child: Baby Jacob Render died of malnutrition

On January 15,  the very first Super Bowl was played against the Packers & the Chiefs, the Ford automotive foundation was formed, the television shows Hill Street Blues & Santa Barbara began,  Martin Luther King Jr was born & so was my cousin Jacob Render.  

Jacob was my second cousin, twice removed.  He was the first of 3 children born to my cousins John & Mabel (Wickliffe) Render.

Jacob only lived 3 short weeks & died at his home of malnutrition.  

What caused him to be malnourished?

Malnutrition is still very common in third world countries, but not here in the US, right?  
According to the CDC, 30% of babies died before their first year in the early 1900's.  It may of been due to the poor living conditions of many who lived in the near south.  

This death record posed a few questions for me.  First of all, how can a 3 week old die of malnutrition?  It doesn't state on the record that he had any other diseases that would have contributed to the malnutrition.  Baby formula wasn't what it is today, but isn't this day & age that most mothers breastfeed or used "wet nurses"? 

Another question I had about this record was who is Jack Wickliffe-the informant?  I don't have a Jack Wickliffe in my tree, nor can I find one in a search.  

It could stand for Jackson or Jacob, but how do I find out for sure?

Monday mystery: Are the Wickliffe & Carbon/Carbin families related?

I see the last name Carbon all over the place as I'm researching my family tree.

I first noticed it on a death record of one of my ancestors.  I thought it was strange that the name Ed Carbon was the informant, eventhough this individual had living children.


I then noticed the name Edward Carbon again on the 1880 census.
He lived right next door to my 2 & 3 times great grandmothers, Nancy & Emma Gatton.  
This same record also has a Joseph & Emily Bodine.  

This got me to thinking.......

Are these families related?

I've only been able to find one set of Wickliffe-Carbon marriages.  Blanche Carbon married Charles Wickliffe in 1911.  However, this is the only connection that I've been able to make.  

Does anyone know what other connections our families may have?

Out with 2014....In with 2015

Looking back at this blogging year has been so amazing.  I'm so excited at the things that I've accomplished this year, but I know I still have so far to go.

When I first started this blog, I had a totally different idea of what this blog would be.  
I cared more about who read it & how to  increase the traffic to my blog, than about sharing my research with my family.  In the end, it turned out to be the last thing I worry about.  Don't get me wrong, I care if my mom reads my post, or if my husband was interested enough to want to read it, but in the end, I care if I want to read it more than them.

Even if my mother hasn't seen it lately, I know that she had in the past.  Not only her, but several others too. Over 2,400 views to date.  250 just this month!  THAT'S AMAZING!

I've had some great post this year, but these were obviously the "fan favorites".

10. Connecting with family:  In September, I posted about my ability to connect with my extended family through this blog.  
(That is a gift that I get every time I connect with a new member of my family.  Which is happening more often recently)
9. Alfred & Bessie's boys: This is definitely one of my favorites & I can't believe that it's this low on my list. My uncles were so handsome & the pic over "old" Indianapolis is something any original Hoosier needs to see.
8.  Harrison & Probie:  This post was a cool collage I made of my great grandparents.  This post was special to me for many reasons, but the main reason was that it touched my heart to see these pics come alive in a collage.
7. My grandpa as a child: I wasn't super excited about this post because all I did was ask questions.  I know very little about my grandpa as a child & I was hoping that someone would comment & enlighten me, but unfortunately........
6. Wednesday's child: My uncle Charles: I hope my uncle had a chance to see the Thinklink I created with his childhood pics.  This post got a lot of my immediate family talking.  Everyone thought the pics looked like my son or my brother.  (Which is ironic because my son & both of my brothers look just like him.)
5. Monday mystery: Wickliffe family reunion: This post was important to me because I really want this reunion to happen.  We all know so very little about each other & we are related.  THAT HAS TO CHANGE.  I didn't get a chance to know my grandparents before they passed away.  I don't want to not know their families too.
4. Aunt Pal: My aunt Pal was such a beautiful person.  I'm glad so many people saw this pic of her.  She was an angel & one of the few Wickliffe family members I've ever met.
3. Blogging our history:  Ironically, this post was just like the one I'm doing right now, but it was done way back when the only thing I cared about was "increasing my blog traffic".  I decided to highlight my favorite blogs & for the first time in Wickliffe family blog history, someone actually commented on one of my post.  (Thanks again Jana Last.  She runs one of the blogs that inspire me every time I visit.)
2. It's my mom!:  I LOVE THIS POST.  It's my favorite post of all time.  Seeing my mom smile like my baby girl, is better than one thousand views.  (THANKS AGAIN cousin Wanda for all of the awesome pics.
Drum roll please.........
And the # 1 post of 2014 was...........
Blogs that help me: THANK YOU to all of the blogs that I read daily that inspire me to continue to blog, even if it is just for ME.  

What was your favorite post? 

The big white binder: how to organize your genealogy research

How do you organize your family tree research?

Organizing the information you find out about your family tree, is a long & exhausting project.  I've taken time over the last couple of months, to try to do just that.  

I have a huge white binder filled with my notes & print outs & pedigree charts.  I've tried to organize according to family, but needless to say, my notes are all over the place.  I have the information according to family surnames, but a few of the documents have been duplicated because the family member is in multiple places in my binder.

It wasn't long before I realized this system was NOT working.  So I started to do what I always do when I can't figure out something with my tree....I researched.

I've found a couple of Youtube videos, but this one is one of my favorites.

Hanging file folders & a file cabinet is a great idea, but before I can get here, I have to find a digital way to carry all of my notes with me.  That's where Google is helpful for me.  I'm a Google addict.  I use Google for everything, including organizing my numerous notes.  Typing these notes out, made me think of them again & see if I have "exhausted my search".

How do you organize your research?

Last name: Wickliffe

Google the name Wickliffe & a thousand different things will pop up.

http://www.familycrestdb.com/irish/wickliffe-surname.html

I found everything from cities & counties named Wickliffe to car rental places & pharmaceutical companies.

The surname has no formal meaning, but it is used as both a first & last name.

I'd always believed that it had some German origin, but the surname actually originated in Northern England.  

https://www.historicalnames.com/wickliffe-coat-of-arms.aspx

According to the surname database, the name may have come from the term "white cliff".

The spelling varies, but I've seen it spelled several ways: Wycliffe, Wickliff, Wycliff or Wicliffe.   

So how did we end up with the last name Wickliffe?

This is a mystery I'm still trying to solve.

I've blogged about it a few times in the past:

• Who was Joe/Joseph Bodine?
• Pond Creek
• Robert Wickliffe's Will

Whether my ancestors were given as wedding gifts or in a will, I'm still unsure, but regardless, we were eventually given the surname from our original slave owners.

 Will the family name continue?

With only a few Wickliffe males left, is our family name being preserved?  

I've never been to a family reunion.  My mother is the only person besides a distant cousin who has ever told me about my family.  

What will happen when they are unable tell their stories?