Do You Recognize This Family? Help Reunite the Smith Family with their Family History!

It's Family Friday and I've got some BIG NEWS!!!

We’ve all seen a story on social media or mainstream news about some random person making an unlikely discovery of another family’s heirloom or other personal family effects. Little did I know that I would soon become part of such a discovery!  

A few days ago I received a message from a good friend, Lorissa Edwards. She mentioned that she had a project for me and that she would tell me about it later. She called me that evening to tell me she had been out “thrifting” at a local Goodwill and found some really cool art pieces. As the conversation continued, she mentioned that she found a photo album that caught her attention. As she thumbed through the album she discovered that there were some personal photos inside the album. “Are you sure those aren’t stock images?” I asked. She replied “No, these are someone’s personal photos - old photographs – a couple look to be from the 1800’s! There are even handwritten letters from 1916 and letters typed on Emory University letterhead from the 1920’s and 1930’s!” I had to sit all the way up! “What?!” I exclaimed.

We continued talking about how we couldn’t believe she had made such a discovery. She offered to drop the information to me the next day and let me have at researching since that’s my thing. “Connecting families one ancestor at a time” is what I do. We exchanged calls and messages over the next few days to piece together the ins and outs of the matter and decided that we would try to reunite this family with this information. If you are related to this family please contact madamancestry@gmail.com. 

We also need your help in spreading the word, so share, share, share! If no family members come forward to claim this information by August 31, 2016, we discussed the possibility of donating this information to the Emory University Archives. 

Take a good look at these photos and let us know if you recognize this family or if you are any relation to this family. 

We are not sure who the woman on the left is, but the man and woman on the right we believe to be Mr. & Mrs. Ponder Lane Smith.

We believe the photo on the top left is an older photo of Mamie Harden (Hardin?) and the photo on the bottom left is a young photo of Silas "Sike" Harden (Hardin?) - his name is actually written on the back; The top right photo is believed to be Mamie; the middle photo is believed to be Rose (Rosa?), Mamie, and their other sisters Robin (Dee?), Frances, and Sarah; the bottom right photo is believed to be an older photo of Mamie and Silas "Sike" Harden (Hardin?).

This is a copy of the death notice for Ponder Lane Smith (P.L. Smith) along with a photo of his burial. 

This is what we've concluded:

1. Rose (Rosa?) was a nurse (and possibly a student) at Emory
2. Rose and Mamie were sisters
3. Rose married Robert "Bob" Young and Mamie married Silas "Sike" Harden (Hardin?). They are listed as Mrs. Robert Young and Mrs. S.S. Hardin in their father's death notice in the paper. 
4. Ponder Lane Smith (P.L. Smith) is the father of Rose and Mamie and three other daughters - Robin (Dee?), Sarah, and Frances, according to his 1939 death notice in the Atlanta Journal Constitution. 
5. The family was in Juliette (Monroe Co.), Atlanta, and Forsyth. Mamie and Silas were in Jacksonville, FL. 

After reviewing additional records, it appears that Ponder Lane Smith (P.L. Smith) was married to Janette M. Sawyer and they had 7 daughters: Mamie (b. 1902); Robin D. (Dee?) (b. 1905); Rose (Rosa?) (b. 1907); Lillian (b. 1908); Willie (b.  est. 1910); Frances (b. est. 1910); Sarah T. (b. est. 1910). 

There were only five daughters listed in Ponder Lane Smith's death notice, so at this point we do not know what happened to the other two daughters. I've added images of the letters as well, in case this information can offer additional clues to possible relatives. Many of the letters have sections that are blurred to reserve sentiment for possible relatives. Again, we would like to reunite family members with this information, so if you are related to this family please contact madamancestry@gmail.com by August 31, 2016. 

REMEMBER: It is so important that you do not throw out photos, letters, and other things of that sort. If you do not know what to do with them, donate them to a library or historical society so that they can be properly archived and preserved. 

Be My Guest!

Two things I love are writing and family history! I've been blessed to combine these efforts through blogging! I've even been invited to write a few guest pieces that I'd like to invite you to check out! In addition to my blog, I look forward to more opportunities of being able to write for others from time to time. I would like to give a HUGE THANK YOU to MyCanvas and Lisa Lisson for having me as their guest, allowing me the opportunity to write for them, and to inspire others! :-)

Bring Your Family History to LIFE!

Family Friday

Hilson: A Story Behind the Name

A little help, please...

We've all been in the throes of a good ancestor hunt when we finally get to a point where we have to blurt out that little four letter word - HELP!

We may not realize it, but sometimes that help is already available to us before we can ask. Ancestry.com is one of my many resources for researching family history. Many times, before I begin a search of all records, I check to see if the name I am researching shows up in any family trees.

I decided to pick up the search again for my great grandfather on my maternal line. I really didn't have much information about his life - other than than knowing the name of his wife, the names of their children, and that he unfortunately died when he was 26 years of age (possibly 24 as his birth year may be off by a couple of years). I would check for trees on Ancestry and he never seemed to show up. I was able to check other databases and found documentation that lead me to discover the names of his parents and his siblings. After that discovery they all seemed to have joined the "Ancestor Witness Protection Program" (smile)!

Doing family research takes lots of time. You may not always get the answers you're looking for, but I'm a firm believer that those answers will come eventually.

I decided to search for great grandfather again today and wondered "Could he finally be listed in someone's tree"? To my surprise he was! And so was his entire family! I reviewed this person's family tree and they had identical information to what I have, plus LOTS of information that I didn't have. I was so excited because this part of the family finally has a story!

I noticed that the person who owned the tree had various other trees. I contacted them to explain who I was and ask their relation. The owner of the tree is not related but mentioned that she just likes to research and update her findings in her spare time. I gave her a hearty thank you and encouraged her to keep up the good work! Without her help I would've never been able to make this remarkable discovery!

Never give up on your search! Your help may be closer than you think and may also come from an unlikely source! I would've never thought that someone I don't know and who has no relation to my family would provide the information that I was looking for! Let's all do our part and help index information. Your one post could be the one missing link for someone to complete their family history!

And when you're tired of shaking your tree, go shake someone else's - you may be surprised to find that some of your ancestors may fall out!

Happy Searching! :-)

What Runs In Your Family?

Discussing what medical conditions run in your family is not always a popular conversation - but it is an important one! The reason for this post is to help encourage you to open the door to discussing medical issues that run in your family. Some things may be of minor significance and some things may be of major significance, so it's important to sort it all out.

May is National Stroke Awareness Month. That may not mean anything to you. It didn't mean anything to me until some years ago when it hit home and affected my mother and completely changed all of our lives. Prior to that I never thought to ask her about her medical history, or the medical history of her family.

As I gathered some family data recently, I began remembering that my grandmother also suffered a stroke which contributed to her death. Another family member was trying to convince me that wasn't the case but I could vividly remembering hearing that she suffered a stroke when I was a kid. I began going through my family papers and just as I thought, stroke was a major contributor to her death. "That's ironic" I thought, but I didn't think much of it again until I stumbled upon a copy of my great grandmother's death certificate. Imagine my surprise when I discovered that she also died as a result of having a stroke! What are the odds that great grandmother, grandmother, and mother would all succumb to the same disease! This was no coincidence to me!

I began asking other relatives what they knew of strokes in the family and other contributory causes that could put us at a higher risk. No one seemed to know and the people who could really answer these questions are unfortunately no longer here. Now that I have this information I can share with other family members so that we know what to look out for and try to prevent the same. If you're interested in learning more about stroke and stroke prevention, National Stroke Association is a great resource to look into.

I hope that you will take time today to discuss your family's health - it could save a life!

Happy Living! :-)

Family Friday!!!

Hey everybody! Y'all know what day it is...Family Friday!!! I wanted to share with you that I had another opportunity to provide a guest post for the MyCanvas Guest Blogger Series! This series has so many great bloggers with so much great information! My piece was about "Family Friday" a creative way to get the family involved. If you haven't had an opportunity to check out the post you can click here to be directed to it for some great tips on how to engage and inspire your family about their history!

Happy Family Friday!!! :-)

Influential Women of the Family - Part 3

(Madam Ancestry's personal family photo)

Sickness (and tears) caused me to send this out late, but there was no way I was letting Women's History Month end without honoring...MY MAMA!

This picture of us is kind of blurry but it's still one of my favorites! I don't specifically remember this event, but I do know it was someone's birthday and we had birthday cake. There were a lot of us so it seemed like we had birthday cake quite often (smile). For a long time, mama used to make all of our birthday cakes. I can remember going with her to some place where she would take classes on cake decorating and voila! Perfectly decorated birthday cakes! It was the best to eat the leftover cake batter from the bowl - and so worth the smack on the hand for touching the cake piper and tasting the frosting inside! My Miss Piggy birthday cake was probably my favorite birthday cake! She made it for my 6th birthday and I'll never forget it!

(Madam Ancestry's personal family photo)

This year we're approaching a milestone anniversary of her passing and I honestly can't believe it's been this long. I was feeling a little low about how there is so much more I want to know about her that I won't get to know. She endured more than I could ever know being raised in a poor, single-parent family, and growing her own family to the standard she wanted her children to achieve. As I thought about her, I realized that I had already encapsulated so much about her.

BRAVE: She ventured off with "Deddy" to move to another state. They packed up the kiddos and left everything and everyone they new and started a new chapter in life. Oh, and did I mention she was two weeks from delivering a baby at the time?!

TOUGH AS NAILS: You've gotta be tough to raise 8 kids (and some grands)! Early on they made a decision that she would be a stay at home mom. I probably would've lost my mind if I had to listen to all those kids all day, everyday. But she did it. She was the type to let things roll off her back. I've only seen her emotional once...mabe twice...in my entire life, seriously!

RESOURCEFUL: She had many talents and would use whatever she had. I remember her sewing; baking; stretching those dollars (I thought I was a super shopper but I have nothing on her); being a doctor (she had a knack for making remedies by mixing medicine and whatever else she could find in the house...lol...but we always got well)! She could feed a multitude. To this day I do not know how there was always food to go around. I have the hardest time trying to keep leftovers with just me (smile)! She drove our shuttle aka the minivan. She drove all of us all over the city to where we needed to be, all in the same day! There must have been more than 24 hours in a day back then!

RESILIENT: I've watched her withstand setbacks in life, bounce back from major illness and keep it moving like she never missed a beat. When she couldn't talk she found a way to communicate. She fought it out until the end.

There is so much more I could say about how she loved us all in her own unique way. She was truly one of a kind. I'm glad to have had her for a short time than to have not had her at all. I'm thankful for our time, for the lessons, taking on her traits, and most of all for the memories!

I love you always and forever, Ma!

Happy Women's History Month!

Throwback Thursday - Let's try something a little different!

Recently I was going through some family papers and found some old letters, postcards, and other handwritten documents. I smiled as I admired the handwriting and the stories each record contained. We're now so caught up in the digital age, I got to thinking "Does anyone write letters anymore?"

Since today is "Throwback Thursday", I thought it was appropriate to talk about this today. Throwback Thursday is a social media trend where users share old photographs (usually with the hashtag #TBT), but I thought it would be fun to try something a little different! Today, let's skip the texting and the email and take the time to write someone in our family! You can write a nice letter, or send a postcard with a short note. Encourage your relative(s) to write back! You'll be helping keep family connections, and sharing memories for future generations to fondly look upon!

Happy writing! :-D