Genealogy break through...

I've been working on mine and Justin's family trees for a couple years now.  I had started working on my family tree several years ago, doing work here and there in short bursts, and just before we decided to try to get pregnant I had started to explore Justin's family tree so that his son would have it when he got older.  Anyhow, in my own research, I had been trying very hard to find out information about my great great grandmother, Mahala.  She was a bit of a mystery.  Family stories always referred to her as a Native American, Cherokee even.  This has always been fascinating to me, but no one could ever tell me more.  So as I was rechecking the WV Vital Statistics page (a favorite free tool I use, and something WV should be proud of as few states have made much effort in digitizing this info and making it available) I came across Mahala's death certificate.  I don't know if I had missed it in the past because I hadn't tried a different spelling of her last name or if it just hadn't been digitized previously (this was the case for another great great grandmother), but low and behold after years of trying to find her parents, here they were on her death certificate.  So with renewed interest I began looking for these new people, John Potter and Hulda Wright of Fletcher Co. KY.

After googling their names and searching several census records here and there, I came across the website of Nancy Wright Bays and her work on the genealogy of the Wright and Bates families.  Through info that she and Linda Potter Whitt had pieced together, it appears that I've found Mahala's family, or at least part of it.  There's now a new mystery.  On Mahala's death certificate her daughter, Della Hall, had listed her parents as John Potter and Hulda Wright, but from the information I've found on Hulda Wright, from Nancy and Linda's research, Hulda was married to a Reuben "Rube" Potter.  Now, I know it wasn't uncommon for a brother or cousin to marry a widowed woman when her husband died (found this a couple times before), but according to what Linda and Nancy have pieced together on the Wright family, they doubt that Hulda would have stayed with the Potter family after her husband died (Linda's recounted a very interesting story passed down in her family here).  So why would Mahala's daughter list her grandfather's name as John Potter instead of Reuben or Rube?  Mahala would only have been a couple years old when her father died, but it seems unlikely that her daughter would know of Hulda but not Reuben, unless Hulda had remarried and Mahala had been raised by this possible second husband.

So, one mystery solved and several more unlocked, waiting for answers.  I will have to start looking more closely at Kentucky records and trying to find a descendant of Della Hall who might have further information on Mahala.  If you think you may have information on these families, let us know.

Thomas "Boone" Salmons b. 4/1/1856  KY d. 10/30/1932 Hamlin, WV buried at Harvey's Creek Cemetery
married
Mahala Potter Salmon(s) b. 11/6/1859 (according to death certificate signed by daughter Della May Salmons Hall) Letcher Co KY d. 9/12/1951 Hamlin, WV buried at Harvey's Creek Cemetery

Their children are:

Bertha Salmons (married James M. Langley of KY) stayed in KY after parents and most siblings moved to Hamlin WV.

Elmon/Elmond Salmons (married Dinah Jeffers and Ora Hazel Woodall)

John Ervin Salmons (married Bonnie Duncan and Dolly Johnson)

James "Jim" Salmons (married Etta Tussey?) Believe he stayed in KY as well.


Robert "Bob" Lee Sammons (married Mary Alice Reffett)

Williams J. Salmons (married Dollie E. Burns) These are my great grandparents.

Henry Harrison Salmons (married Spicy Alice Elkins)

Thomas "Tommy/Tom" Salmons (married Rose/Rosa Burns-Dollie Burns' sister)

Della May Salmons (married Roy Hall)

Dollie/Dolly Salmons (married Earl Stickler

Happy Easter! Blessings pour into our lives when we least expect them...

Here in our hilly Ohio Valley area, spring has sprung and April has indeed brought us showers.  Lots and lots of showers, and thunderstorms.  :)  The Ohio and Guyandotte Rivers, that so recently were starting to ebb, are back up, muddy waters churning their way toward the Mississippi, thankfully still within their banks if just.  My beautiful little girl, now a one year old toddler, got to enjoy a little bit of Easter with her grandma Cover, wearing the beautiful blue dress her grandpa Alford picked up for her.  I'm working today, of course, as I've worked most Sundays for the past 5 years, but that's ok.  :)

It's ok, because just over a week ago, we finally got a little break.  Justin, who left an upper management job about three years ago, to take the chance on something better eventually, and to spend more time with his son, finally was given the opportunity to move up the ladder at his current job.  He's been patient, a little irritated from time to time, but overall patient as he slowly tried to work his way up from the bottom.  He'd made a couple moves, and gotten little raises here and there, but this time, he finally got to show his hand at his managerial skills again.  :)  I'm proud of him.  I'm proud that through the frustrations he's stayed and tried to make a name for himself.  I'm proud that he has stuck to his guns and not been afraid to speak up with his ideas for improving things.  And I'm thankful, that he's finally been given a chance to shine a little brighter.  :)  And better still, Justin's schedule will finally for set... no changing from day to day and week to week.  Now, he works the same thing all the time and now I can try to schedule myself for a steady shift as well!  Yay!  Oh how I've missed a steady schedule each week and not having to carry a calendar around constantly just to remind myself of where I'm supposed to be each day.  And maybe, just maybe, we can get Jess to bed on a set schedule again!  It's been months since we could do that.  Here's hoping.

Now good news never seems to come into our lives alone, so I guess I shouldn't have been surprised that just a couple nights after getting our lawn mower back from my mom and her husband (who had kept it over the winter to work on it for us), and one lawn trimming (first of the season even, and on the same night), our mower was stolen from the porch.  Gotta love thieves.  But things could be worse and I'm still more thankful for Justin's promotion than I am annoyed about the mower.

Anyhow, still working on downsizing some of our possessions, the mower wasn't meant to be among them though.  I'll have to ask for a weekend off soon in order to actually have a yard sale to get rid of stuff (maybe we'll be lucky and make enough to replace the mower).

Well, time for work.  May your day be filled with blessings and a sense of renewal this Easter Sunday.

Back again...

Well, I suppose I'm not the best at this blogging stuff.  :)  It's been quite a while since my last post back in February.  Life hasn't been too hectic though, and I suppose there's not been much to tell.

Anyhow, since my last post and my painful incident of breaking my toe (healed now, but still a little painful from time to time) Justin and I took a wonderfully relaxing trip for two to North Bend State Park.  Absolutely wonderful.  We came in just in time to catch the tale end of their winter special at the lodge which included lodging, dinner and breakfast for two (anything we wanted on the tasty and wonderful menu) all for $99 per night.  Not extremely frugal, but given there were no hotels in the area that we could find, B&B prices where about $100/night and eating out involved a twenty minute drive and offered your basic fast food fair instead of tasty, home cooked meals... well, that being said I think we made out like bandits!  The weather we great, my toe was healed just enough to walk fairly comfortably (good since our main reason for picking North Bend was their Rail Trail access), and the trail was awesome.  Rail trails are a wonderful way to get out in nature even when you're not in the best of shape, since the trails tend to be nice, flat or gently sloped and usually have great access sites so you can park almost beside the trail.  North Bend Rail Trail is a total of 77 miles and runs between Parkersburg, WV and Clarksburg, WV.  It runs through several small towns along the way and has many beautiful bridges and tunnels!  :)  We only put in six miles (from Cairo to tunnel 19 and back), but it was nice and easy going.  We hope to eventually go back and maybe bike the whole trail with friends (faster by far) and maybe to try taking the kids.  Such an as going trail is great for families.

When we got home, we were greeted by an elated little girl who was tickled pink to have mommy and daddy home again.  Not that she didn't love her weekend with grandma, but she's always happy to come home to us.  :)  Best feeling in the world I must say.  But unfortunately our return was followed with sniffling and congestion and suddenly I'm experiencing my baby's first sickness.  As I'm a new mom, part time stepmom (our little man lives with his mom and just gets to visit us) I was a little worried, but I think I stayed pretty calm.  I tried cough syrup and treating her at home first as was recommended since she started out with such mild symptoms, but then had to take her to the doc (and later myself) because it just wasn't working and she was feeling and sounding worse.  My sweet little Jess had caught bronchitus and developed a sinus infection.  :(  A quick shot of steroids, antibiotics and some breathing treatments and she was right as rain again in no time.  Hell, she was up and better far faster than I was.  :)  I'm still sounding all froggy in the voice over two weeks later.

Unfortunately, Jess and I were not well by her birthday (very first!) on the 3rd, so birthday dinner with the family (at least as many as were available to come) was postponed until a few days later.  Thankfully by then, we were feeling much better and we managed to have a wonderful dinner at home followed by cake and general fun.

As far as debt updates, I've managed to payoff the last of my medical bills from Jess's birth.  Yay!  There's still the rest of her NICU bills to pay, and now I've added ER bills for my toe, but I'm feeling pretty good about it still.  My savings was moving up nicely, though I have to dip into that for the unexpected expense of broken glasses.  Somehow bub managed to run face first into a pole at school.  He was happy to let us know that he wasn't the only one either, and that at least he didn't have to go to the hospital for stitches... yeah... I'm glad of that, thankful even... though utterly amazed at the ability of children to run without watching where they're going.  Anyhow, new glasses have been ordered and should make it in before his upcoming testing at school.

Well, time to get ready for dinner and spend some quality time with the family.  Have a wonderful evening everyone.