From time to time I do genealogy work, as time and kids permit, and it's usually rewarding, but there also can be some serious frustruations. Take this lady for example. I look a LOT like her, which is convenient because she is my great grandmother, Josephine Goodwin Walker. The bad news? Aside from knowing her father's name was Jacob Goodwin, and her mother was a lady named Sarah who died when Josie was very young, I can't find much more on her ancestry than that. Total road block. It's a pity too, because she and I share a lot of the same facial features, which leads me to wonder if we weren't alike in other ways too. She died in 1951, and her obituary explains that once her mother died, her father left her in the care of the Finley family. We never find him again in any historical records relating to Josephine, or in any of the census records of Saline County, Missouri where Josie grew up. Where did Jacob go? What happened to him? A hundred and fifty years ago it was common to lose a spouse early on, especially a wife (childbirth was extremely hazzardous, and if the birthing didn't get you, the assorted fevers and poxes would make a stab at it.) Most people just married again when their spouses died, mainly to have someone to look after the kids. But not Jacob Goodwin. You could theorize he didn't want to be reminded of Sarah, or wasn't into fatherhood, or didn't like any of the local ladies, or thought little Josie would be better off with somebody else doing the parenting, or that maybe he took this life changing event as a sign he should start completely over somewhere else, but in the end it's all speculation, which comforts me not one bit. Maybe Jacob thought he'd get a job, make some money and come back for his little girl, and maybe he died while doing that, and that's why we never hear of him again, but Josephine's obituary doesn't mention it. It simply says her mother died, she went to live with the Finley's, and she thought highly of the Finley's all her life. Jacob seems to be less dead than just not around. So what happened to him? And more importantly, who were his parents? Who were Sarah's parents? (I don't have a confirmed maiden name--just a scribble in the marriage record of Saline county that may or may not be the same Jacob Goodwin and Sarah, that lists McAnnon, but might instead be McMahan since there were other McMahans around at that time and no McAnnons.) Was Sarah recently immigrated, perhaps from Ireland? Where did I get my face? I will probably never know. Stephen and I have a lot of the same facial features, so maybe he can keep searching for Jacob or Sarah's people once I give up . . . but the truth is, probably, that the search ends with me, and Stephen and I will just be faces in the crowd, never knowing who had this mug in the first place.
Friday, February 20, 2009
Who are you?
From time to time I do genealogy work, as time and kids permit, and it's usually rewarding, but there also can be some serious frustruations. Take this lady for example. I look a LOT like her, which is convenient because she is my great grandmother, Josephine Goodwin Walker. The bad news? Aside from knowing her father's name was Jacob Goodwin, and her mother was a lady named Sarah who died when Josie was very young, I can't find much more on her ancestry than that. Total road block. It's a pity too, because she and I share a lot of the same facial features, which leads me to wonder if we weren't alike in other ways too. She died in 1951, and her obituary explains that once her mother died, her father left her in the care of the Finley family. We never find him again in any historical records relating to Josephine, or in any of the census records of Saline County, Missouri where Josie grew up. Where did Jacob go? What happened to him? A hundred and fifty years ago it was common to lose a spouse early on, especially a wife (childbirth was extremely hazzardous, and if the birthing didn't get you, the assorted fevers and poxes would make a stab at it.) Most people just married again when their spouses died, mainly to have someone to look after the kids. But not Jacob Goodwin. You could theorize he didn't want to be reminded of Sarah, or wasn't into fatherhood, or didn't like any of the local ladies, or thought little Josie would be better off with somebody else doing the parenting, or that maybe he took this life changing event as a sign he should start completely over somewhere else, but in the end it's all speculation, which comforts me not one bit. Maybe Jacob thought he'd get a job, make some money and come back for his little girl, and maybe he died while doing that, and that's why we never hear of him again, but Josephine's obituary doesn't mention it. It simply says her mother died, she went to live with the Finley's, and she thought highly of the Finley's all her life. Jacob seems to be less dead than just not around. So what happened to him? And more importantly, who were his parents? Who were Sarah's parents? (I don't have a confirmed maiden name--just a scribble in the marriage record of Saline county that may or may not be the same Jacob Goodwin and Sarah, that lists McAnnon, but might instead be McMahan since there were other McMahans around at that time and no McAnnons.) Was Sarah recently immigrated, perhaps from Ireland? Where did I get my face? I will probably never know. Stephen and I have a lot of the same facial features, so maybe he can keep searching for Jacob or Sarah's people once I give up . . . but the truth is, probably, that the search ends with me, and Stephen and I will just be faces in the crowd, never knowing who had this mug in the first place.
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1 comment:
Wow, Kristi, that is really interesting! You really do look a lot like her! My uncle does a lot of genealogy research, but I have never gotten into it. I am interested in researching Andrew's family though because I can never keep track of how they are all related.
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