26 November 2007

Thanks Giving & Family

It's the time of year when you think about your ancestors and wonder what their holidays were like. Some were spent in despair, others grateful for what they had, and still others seemed to have it all.


While we are looking for and finding our ancestors, let's not forget about those who will carry on our legacies long after we are gone and hopefully not forgotten.


My brother started a round of "What are you thankful for?" at our family table this Thanksgiving. Mine was more a reflection on this past year that has been very hard on us and I just said that I grateful that we have made it this far and still have a roof over our heads and food on the table. But it was my oldest son who gave the one that made me want to cry. He said he was grateful that he had such loving parents. Wow! Some days I wonder how he can say that when I feel I'm coming unglued, but children love you through it all.


I'm thankful that I have three beautiful and loving children and a husband I love and cherish dearly, for our health and that we have made it another year.

So what are you thankful for?

24 November 2007

Case Study: Daisy Riddle Part III

But all of this really leads me no closer to finding out Daisy's identity and family before she married Sam. So did I every find out her maiden name and who she was? Maybe. I guess you'll have to come back again to see what else I found..........

Like I promised I would continue this story next time.

The added information I have found is that her father is of mixed blood born in MO or IL, and her mother is Pottawatomie Indian born in OK. I have no maiden name since there is no record of her marriage to Sam, at least none I know of in about 1908. Oklahoma was barely a state let alone keeping records at that time.

From what I understand from the family they were not religious and being Native American that could go either way, but I don't believe that there will be an church records of a marriage.

So am I stuck? Maybe not. I actually did a search in the 1900 census for a Daisy born about 1890, so she should have been about 10 years old. Bingo! Well maybe. Only one Daisy showed up in OK as a 10 year old of Native American heritage born in OK.

She was enumerated the 7 June 1900 as a pupil of the Fort Sill Boarding School on the Apache, Kiowa, Comanche Reservation. They listed all the children as Comanche, but I feel that was a short cut as they probably didn't know or care about their true tribe. This Daisy is Daisy Blackwolf. So is this my husband's Great Grandmother Daisy? I don't know. I've never found anymore. It's time to pick up the file again. I will continue to research Daisy Blackwolf and see if she continues to fit with our Daisy Riddle.

It's just another case to show you to think outside the box. I didn't know her maiden name so how else was I going to find a Native American girl in OK in the census with out it. By searching using only her first name. Now sometimes that doesn't work because it gives you more hits than you can handle. But in this case it gave me a few dozen, but only one of them really fit the criteria of the girl I was looking for. However, if you do get a few hits, it's worth the time to research two of three girls that may fit and find out everything about them in order to determine who they married, where they moved on to, and anything else that will tell you if they are a perfect fit. I also helps give you a maiden name to search for any marriage records between that surname and the husband's surname that your known ancestor married. It's a lot of work, but if that is how you solve the puzzle of a female ancestor and find her maiden name then it's well worth it.

Happy Hunting.

17 November 2007

Daisy D Unknown Riddle Part II

Yesterday I post what I originally knew about Daisy D (unknown) Riddle and what I first uncovered about her and the family. Is it possible that her and Sam had a daughter the family knew nothing about? Well let's continue.

I continued my search by trying to find them in 1920 with no luck. They were no where to be found. Actually I did find them, but I'll explain later. I'm getting ahead of myself.

After spending a great deal of time in 1920 I give up and move ahead to 1910. Again I find them quickly in Wilson Twp, Atoka, OK. This gets a little strange though. First I know from Bertha's age in 1930 that she wouldn't have been born yet, so no surprise that I don't find her, which further confirms her approximate age in 1930. However Daisy, if it is Daisy, goes by Dollie here. She has been married one year and was married at 18 years old. This fits! Again she is born in OK. Also if I go back to 1930 her name was listed as Daisy D. Could her name really be Daisy Dollie and for some reason she used each at different times?

Unfortunately 1910 doesn't tell me anymore about Daisy. But it sure gives me more of a glimpse into Sam's family. But that's another family for another day. However, one note: Daisy is Sam's second marriage, but they were married here already. I do believe that Daisy and Dollie are the same woman and that Bertha who I found in 1930 was in fact Daisy's daughter and not Sam's from the first marriage.

At this point I couldn't find anything else, so I decide to use a tool That has been useful many times. I posted a message on GenForum on our Riddle family requesting any information found. A very generous and wonderful lady responded. She wasn't related to us, but just wanted to help. She found a missing pieces for me, the 1920 Census of the Riddle family!

Now I see why I was unable to find them. Just another case of misspelled names. The surname was spelled as Riddile! So when looking for your own, make sure to use every possible spelling and search using different criteria including searching only by first name in a certain location.

This time they are in Coal Co, Jackson Twp., OK. This time I am almost certain that Bertha is Daisy's daughter. I also have no doubts this is the family as the baby's name is Clifton, Sam's middle name. I'm sure they called him by his middle name since his first was the same as his father. Clifton isn't a very common name.

But all of this really leads me no closer to finding out Daisy's identity and family before she married Sam. So did I every find out her maiden name and who she was? Maybe. I guess you'll have to come back again to see what else I found.

Until next time Happy Hunting!

15 November 2007

Case Study: Daisy Unknown Riddle

The following is a case study of my husband's great grandmother, Daisy Riddle. Her husband Sam Riddle is a bit of a mystery to me, but she is one of my biggest mysteries.

Let's first start with what I do know. We knew her as Daisy Riddle. Till this day her maiden name is unknown. According to the CA death Index she was born 2 Oct 1890 somewhere in OK and died 27 April 1966 in Modesto, Stanislaus Co., CA. She was married to Sam D Riddle and they had four known children; Jewel, Willie, Earl and Sam Clifton Riddle (my husbands grandfather).

I first find Sam and Daisy in 1930 in Ponca City, Kay Co., OK. Also listed with them are their four known children, so I knew I had the right couple. But wait what is this a fifth child the family did not know about?

Riddle, Sam D, Head, M, In, 53, M, 30, Kentucky, Mixed blood
Kentucky,
Choctaw, South Carolina
Daisy, Wife, F, In, 40, M, 18,
Oklahoma, Mixed
blood, Pottawatomie
Jewel, daughter, F, In,12, S, Oklahoma,
Mixed blood,
Potawamie
Samuel C, son, M, In, 10, S, Oklahoma, Mixed blood,
Potawamie
Willie F, son, M, In, Oklahoma, Mixed blood, Potawamie
Earl E,
son,
M, In, Oklahoma, Mixed blood, Potawamie


The 1930 Census confirms that Daisy was born about 1890 in OK. This also confirms that she is of mixed blood/Native American. It is recorded that her father is mixed blood, but that her mother is Pottawatomie. It also tells me that they were married when Daisy was 18 years old which would put their marriage about 1908.

The amazing thing is I discovered that Daisy had a daughter before Jewel that no one in the family knew about! Bertha Keith is listed as Sam's daughter. She was married the year before at age 18 as she is 19 in 1930. So we have another question. Is she Daisy's daughter or Sam's from a previous marriage.

I will continue this with another post later. I also found the 1920 and 1910 census, but I will take you through that process on my next post. For now I have to get back to work.

Happy Hunting!

11 November 2007

Honing Your Genealogy Skills

I just read an article tonight that I couldn't help sharing, Three Genealogical Exercises by George G Morgan. Take the time to read this. This is a great idea. In some ways I do this myself.

For about a year now I have asked to research families of friends or volunteered my skills to associates I know would like to find their ancestors. It was my way of keeping my skills sharp. In many areas of mine and my husbands families I have reached brick walls. But I didn't want to just set back and not do anything while waiting to make a break through. Since I have set aside my family I have learned of new websites, databases, and places to search. I have even learned of new techniques to help in my search. I have applied those little techniques from time to time on my family just to see if I can make a break through. In a couple cases I would get one more little piece of information to add to the mystery.

George write about his three areas of training and keeping his skills sharp. The first is reading obits. He then dissects the obits to find every piece of information about that persons life he can glean from the obit by underlining the information. Then he writes a list of events and where he might find records pertaining to the events in that life, and proceeds to do some research. The second area is to continually check the message boards. This is a great one to use. Not only will you have the satisfaction of helping others, but you may stumble across a distant cousin. It has happened to me. The last thing he does is visiting cemeteries. He then writes down the name and dates off of a random tombstone and then uses electronic databases online to find as much as he can about that person's life.

I would add one more thing to that list, one I have been bad about, Blogging. Write about your experiances, things you read, techniques you discover, and most importantly about your genealogy. Countless times distant cousins have contacted me because of an article they have read on my blog about a common ancestor. Also sharing and teaching through your blog keeps your skills share by making you think about them in order to teach others. Those who learn best often teach much.

04 November 2007

I'm still here

I'm sure my regular readers are wondering what has happened to me. Well I'm still here and still very interested and working on my genealogy. Unfortunately life has dealt me a hand that has forced me to go back to work. I'm sure you know what the means.......less time for my passion.

I'm sorry I have not been posting anything new or updating anything. It has been bugging me to no end, but what could I do. I am constantly thinking of ideas for new posts, even when I'm working. The problem has been the time to set down and pull my material together and type it up for all of you to read. With my new job I am working nights. I'm also taking the kids to school near my parents house 20 minutes away so that my mom can watch the kids and it's easy for her to pick them up from school (actually the oldest stays with them unless my husband has a night off). So I'm lucky if I can get enough sleep and then still have a few hours in the morning. Those few hours are filled with feeding, clothing and packing the kids stuff up for grandma's house. Then we are off. It has taken me a while to get this rhythm down. Now I think I'm on the verge of being able to find a few minutes every now and then to set down at my computer and stay in touch with not only my readers, distant relatives, but myself as well.

So stay tuned I hope to be able to take some of my notes on future posts and start making something of them and put them up for you to read.

Don't forget I am still working on the website I host for Genealogy Trails for Kootenai County. If there is anyone that can provide help by transcribing records related to this area for me I could sure use the help!

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