HenrysHistories

 Things that truly make my head and heart hurt when I see them.  I saw this in the 1940 census for Pactolus, Pitt County, North Carolina when I was looking for another family for a client.  I had to stop and do a double take because at first I thought I was reading this wrong. I looked back and realized I did not read that wrong. Alex Ogman was an 89 year old man and his wife Roselle was 17! and they had two children aged 2 and 7 months.  So according to marriage records he married Rosa Lee Cox on Feb 16, 1935 in Beaufort County, North Carolina.  An article appeared in the Daily Reflector on Sep 21, 1940 that states he has had 19 wives and 40 children. That he was a former slave of Calvin Ogman of Johnston County, NC. It further states his oldest child is 67 and his youngest is 3. That his current wife is 18 and he married her when she was 13. He was arrested in 1935 for not sending her to SCHOOL!!!  They had at least 5 kids together.  They divorce som...

  This is a relative of mine who died in 1934 in Pitt County, North Carolina. In this obituary it states that both her parents were from Dublin, Ireland. This is FALSE. Her father was Wiley Franklin Nobles (1798-1861) born in Pitt County, North Carolina to Simon Nobles (1760-1832) who was born in Pitt County, North Carolina and died in Pitt County, North Carolina. As for her mother Clara Elizabeth Brown , she may have been born in Dublin Ireland but I cannot prove this nor disprove this.  Also Mrs Carlos Harris was her DAUGHTER not her sister. I don't know who wrote this obituary but they got stuff wrong. 

  This Deed is a document that is connected to my 3rd great grandmother Lovey Chapman. Born about 1823 and she passed around 1895.  Her parents were Stephen Chapman (1789 - 1832 and Eliza Louisa "Luliza" Adams (1804 - 1891). She was married twice. Her first husband was Richard Laughinghouse (1814-1858) and her second husband was my 3rd great grandfather William Haddock (1822-1885).  She had 8 children with her first husband and two with her second husband. Her daughter Lovie Haddock was my 2nd great grandmother.  I was able to find this deed that she made on June 1, 1889 in Chicod Township, Pitt County, North Carolina. I am not sure who Henry Haddock is that she is selling ALL of her land to but with some more research I should be able to find out. But she is selling this 150 acres to him BUT she is keeping a lifetime estate in it. Which means that he will take care of her and let her continue to live on this land until she passes and then at her death, everything go...

In the tapestry of life, there are moments of unexpected magic, and the reunion of this woman with her lost love after three long decades is a breathtaking testament to the enduring power of true connection. As time wove its intricate threads through the years, fate conspired to bring them back together, like a celestial dance under a starlit sky. When their eyes met again after all those years, a flood of emotions surged through their hearts, as if the years apart melted into the sands of time. In each other's presence, they found a sense of familiarity that transcended the passage of time, as if they had been destined to find each other again. Their reunion was a symphony of laughter and tears, a celebration of the love that had never truly faded but had been patiently awaiting this long-awaited moment. In this extraordinary tale, love proved its resilience, illustrating that even after thirty years, the heart's compass remains steadfast, guiding them back into each other...

 A few years ago, I was working on a research paper about a friend's request to know what had happened to one of her relatives back in the 1870's to 1880's. She had told me, it was like he had vanished and the family tree didn't really mention him. Even today, there are versions of their family tree that do not mention him.  So you may be wondering what he did to be blackballed from the family story.  His name was JC and he was a common thief to start out with. He was married with children at the time as well. But he loved to take things that didn't belong to him. Sheep and hogs mostly. This was in the time period of 1876-1878.  Now his wife, Amelia, her father Ransom got fed up with the stealing. Ransom gave JC an ultimatum to leave town and never return. Before he left however, JC, had to turn over all of his assets to his father in law for the benefit of his wife and children. He did this on March 16, 1877. He left town but after a few months he returned. No one ...

 My grandfather came from a very large family and some of them did not stay very still (in one place for very long).  Particularly difficult though was the fact that his mother Sarah Jane Lewis was orphaned young. She was placed in Oxford Orphanage in 1881 here in North Carolina and adopted out of the orphanage in 1883. The couple she ended up with did not treat her very well. She married my great grandfather George Gilliam Parrish in 1887.  FINDING INFORMATION But it was her mother's family that was an enigma. Over the years I found bits and pieces of information and slowly started building this side of the family tree.  Her mother was called Westduck Lewis and her father was Henry Boss King. Her parents were not married to each other as far as I can tell. Westduck's parents were named Norfleet and Julia Lewis. They lived in Halifax County, North Carolina. They had several other children besides Westduck.  One of these siblings of Westduck, I have chased behind...

 Portsmouth Island, NC is located 6 miles SW of Ocracoke village and is separated from Ocracoke Island by Ocracoke Inlet. At one time this island was a thriving sea port and shipping center.  In the year 1753, the General Assembly of North Carolina, passed legislation on March 27 to lay out a town on Core banks in Carteret County. The town was to be named Portsmouth and it would be fifty acres and divided into half acre lots. The cost for one of these lots was 20 shillings and you had to build a house or warehouse of at least 20 by 16 feet.  By 1758 the town had been laid out and was inhabited. For the next 102 years this island was home to many people. At its height, just before the Civil War, the population was almost 600.  Then the decline started due to the war, storms that ravaged the island over the next century and the inlet closing and a new one forming that offered better shipping lanes. By 1960, three people were left on the island. One man and two women....

 As you recall from yesterday's post, my dear friend Sameerah asked me to help her with her family tree. So I told her what information I needed from her , which she gave to me, and I dug in.  As i explored the branches of her family tree, I became more interested in one particular line, on her maternal side. It was the most fascinating to me. The reason being, because she had a connection to North Carolina.  African American genealogy is generally difficult to do because we run into slavery.  Before the 1870 census, African Americans were not counted by name. Another problem is once freed from slavery, African Americans had to choose a last name (surname). In my research I have seen surnames changed once or twice before settling on a surname. This is what I noticed with this branch of her maternal line. Family members even spelled the name differently, but it is the same family. Also, other freed slaves from the area also took the last name as their surname.  W...

 Hey Everyone! I am back after many years of forgetting how to get into this blog! So much has happened since I started this blog. I have been divorced. I also had my paternal grandmother pass away in 2014. I have had cancer twice, with two surgeries and radiation. My Mama passed away in 2020 as well. I have also taken up coaching cheerleading. But through it all I have never stopped doing my family research. I had friends ask me to help them, as well as co-workers. I have traced one line or several lines of their family trees. I have now done research in Canada, Mexico, England, Wales, Ireland, Scotland, Germany, France and The Netherlands.  I did publish a book for my dad about our direct Parrish line.  Now that I know how to get into this blog again, I will keep posting. I am now working on a project with a dear friend of mine named Sameerah.  She contacted me not too long ago asking me to help her with her family history. She gave me what I needed to start with a...