So...in order to catch up, I decided to combine a few weeks.
Week 11 - Lucky
I'm not sure of the luck of my ancestors but I thought it was lucky that during my genealogy research, I discovered that my best friend and I are related! How awesome is that?
Our common ancestor is Joseph Milstead (1783-1803). While I was researching my friend's tree, I happened upon that name and I thought - boy...that name sounds so familiar and I looked on my family tree and BOOM, there he was! We are both direct descendants of his. He is my 6th great grandfather and also her 6th great grandfather but through different children so I don't know exactly how many times removed and all that such is so we just say we are "distant cousins"
I just was giddy with excitement and felt so lucky to find out this connection.
Week 12 - Misfortune
When I think of Misfortune in terms of my family tree. I immediately think of my maternal grandmother's first cousin. Her name was Clarkie Frances Kelly Dykes. She was born in 1908, married Daniel Boone Dykes in 1927 and they had 4 children.
Sadly, on 18 Jan 1936, when she was only 28 years old, her life ended, along with her entire family's. She, her husband and all 4 of their children were killed by a tornado. Here is an article about the terrible incident.
I was able to visit the cemetery where they are buried. It was so sad to see this entire family all buried together with matching headstones that all have the same year of death inscribed on them.
Week 13 - The Old Homestead
This was hard for me to decide what to write about but ultimately I decided to write about my dad's family.
My paternal grandfather at one point, owned 120 acres of land in Westville, FL. He was a young man when he passed (only 42) and he owed money still on some of it. In order to save the land, my father offered to pay it off, in exchange for 40 acres. My grandmother agreed so my grandmother was left with 80 acres and my dad had 40. My grandmother lived in a very old wooden house with no indoor plumbing and only a fireplace for heat. My dad grew up in this house. It seemed fairly large to me on the inside but when you are little, everything seems pretty large.
I remember the front porch, which was the full width of the house. There was a small back porch and room off the porch. I remember listening to the rain when it hit the tin roof. By the time I came along, the house did have electricity but we still had to use the outhouse (needless to say, it wasn't my favorite place to visit).
In the late 70s/early 80s, it was getting beyond repair so they tore it down and my dad bought a new mobile home to put in its place. I was glad to have modern convinces and I am sure my grandmas was but I wish the old house didn't have to be torn down. But it was a safety hazard and we didn't want critters setting up shop in there.
After my grandmother passed, each of her 4 children received 20 acres so my dad then had 60 acres. There was a bit of issues regarding this 80 acre divide but I will save that story for another time.
Years before my grandma passed, the mobile home was moved to be near my aunt so my aunt could take better care of her (after her death, my aunt & uncle moved out of their old wood house with the tin roof and moved into that mobile home and my uncle still lives there to this day).
Many years ago, when 911 was implemented and they had to get rid of route numbers in place of real street addresses, the road was named after my family - so that is pretty cool (even though it is a dirt road)
My cousin (the before mentioned aunt/uncle's oldest daughter), purchased a beautiful double wide mobile home and it now sits where the old homestead originally was. It is nice that it is still in the family and probably (and hopefully) will be for generations.
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