Those Places Thursday - Battle of Franklin

My great grandfather's brother, Oliver P. Boughner, and my great-great grandmother's brother, John Clark fought for the Union's 16th Kentucky Regiment.  One of the battles that they fought in was the Battle of Franklin.

Wordless Wednesday - A Family Picture

Probably taken in the 1930's.

My Uncle John - Adventurer and Veteran of Two Wars

My Uncle John was an adventurer.  He was hard to track down and most of the family didn't know a whole lot about him.

He was born in Brookville, Indiana on October 26, 1919, to James and Anna Boughner Plummer.  He started out in Brookville, but by the time he was ten years old they had moved to Connersville, Indiana.  John was the youngest of the children, he had seven full siblings and four half-siblings.  

On April 29, 1942, John married Louise J Miller.   He was 22 and she was 21.  They were married in Brookville, Indiana.  John's sister Thelma was the witness for their marriage.

In February 1943 they had twin sons.  John entered the U.S. Navy in December 1942.  He served for a few years.  I know one of his sons does have his military records for World War II, but I haven't been able to study them yet.  

When he came back he got a divorce, and this is when his life gets pretty sketchy.  His sons only saw him a couple of times after that.

He remarried, this time to a Phyllis Irene Miller.  I don't know when they got married, but their first child was born in June of 1947.  They had three children pretty quickly.  

Soon after that he went back into the Navy and went to fight in Korea.  I don't know how much time he spent with his other children, probably not much.  They lived out west in either Oregon or Washington.  

When he died he was living in Los Angeles, California, and I believe one of his children was there.  He was buried in Portland, Oregon.  He died at the age of 56, on September 25, 1976.

My Uncle John is in the center in the picture, I don't know who the other two sailors are.

Obituary Sunday - Finding Relatives Who Have Moved Away

I had been researching my great grandmother, Eliza Boughner Plummer for quite some time when I cam across her obituary.  Everything I had ever encountered on her had her name as Eliza.  That is the name my mother had given me.  I was going through Microfilm files in the Fayette  County Public Library in Connersville, Indiana, when I came across one listed in the name Elizabeth Boughner.  Well that was close, her mother's name was Elizabeth and she went by Betsy.  Was Eliza actually Elizabeth too?

I searched for the obituary and eureka!, I had found her,  it listed her family members.  My grandmother and all her sisters were there.  Then I found something interesting.  I hadn't been able to find out where her brothers had gone.  I had searched Indiana and Kentucky records, even Ohio.  Those are the areas that most of the family members had lived in.  Well, now I knew why I hadn't found them.  They were living in Florida.  As soon as I got this information, I was able to locate them on the Census records in Florida and find their families.  It gave me the one missing link I needed to find loads of information.

I also found that one of her sisters had never married. I found her in the Census in Bracken County up through the 1880 Census and have not located her since.  Because of the information in the Obituary I know she was still living there in March of 1932. I will continue to search for her in Bracken County, Kentucky.  I hope to make the trip to Bracken County this summer.

Tombstone Tuesday - Indiana State Police Trooper Roy E. Jones

Indiana State Police Trooper Roy Edman Jones

SSG US ARMY

May 13, 1948 - July 3, 1979

Died In The Line of Duty

The story of his death is located here

Motivation Monday - Bracken County, Kentucky

My genealogical goal is to get to Bracken County, Kentucky.  I wanted to get there last summer and wasn't able to make it.  This summer I will find a way to go.  Bracken sits along the Ohio River southeast of Cincinnati, Ohio.  

My dad's family lived in Bracken for a few generations.  

I have cousin who lives in Cincinnati that talked about the towns of Augusta and Brooksville.  She said, "I always feels at home there where life is so simple."  

Family members to locate there:

• My grandmother, Anna, was born there.
• My grandfather, James was born in the bordering county.
• Several of my aunts and uncles from both sides were born there and some are buried there.
• My great grandmother and great grandfather Boughner were born there.
• I believe my great grandparents on the Plummer side were born there or in the bordering county. They were probably buried there too.
• They are both small towns, maybe I have some cousins still living in the area.  Is it possible to locate some of them? In the 2010 Census there was a population of 1190.

Both families may have had a few more generations from there.

With all this family history located there I have never been to those towns.  I went across the ferry there one time with my parents when I was about 12.

Before I go I will have to compile a list of things to look for to conserve as much time as possilbe.

I also have several family members to research in the Cincinnati, Ohio.

I don't think a day or two will be enough, because I would like to meet my first cousin 1x removed while I am in the area too.

Sibling Saturday - Peter Boughner, Grandma's Brother

My grandmother's brother, Peter B Boughner was born in Bracken, Kentucky on Feb 6, 1876.  He was named after his grandfather Peter Bale Boughner.  His parents were William T. Boughner and Eliza York.

Peter grew up in Bracken County, Kentucky and enlisted in the U.S. Army on Oct 27, 1898 into Company K 6 Regiment, U. S. Infantry.  On the 1900 Census he is shown living at the U. S. Military base on the Island of Negros, in the Philippine Islands.  this would have been during the Philippine-American War. Peter was in the regiment until September 14, 1901. He went into Company L, 18th Regiment on September 18th and stayed until October 29, 1901.

Peter returned to Bracken County and on March 10, 1903, he married Pauline Anna Maines. I wonder if she has any connection to the Manis line on my mother's side of the family.  The Manis name was spelled several different ways as they left the main branch in Hawkin's County, Tennessee.

On the 1910 Census, Peter and Anna were living in Metamora, Indiana, with three children.  He was living next door to my Grandmother Anna.  Peter was farming tobacco just as my grandfather James was.

Peter registered for the draft on September 12 1918.  He in living at RR2, Harrison, Ohio.  He is self employed.  I am pretty sure that meant he was farming.  He is married to Anna.  His description is medium height, stout build, with brown eyes and dark hair.  He was 42 years old.

On the 1920 Census, Peter and Anna had moved to Harrison Township, in Dearborn County, Indiana, to farm there.  I believe that is very close to where he lived in 1918 when he registered, it's possible that he was really living in the same place.

I know there were a large contingent of people from Bracken County living in Dearborn County around that time.  At the farm next door the wife is from Kentucky, is it possible that she is related and that's why they moved to Dearborn County.

By 1930, the Census shows Peter still in Dearborn County, but Anna is gone.  I believe she must have died.  He has a son and a daughter-in-law living with him.  At this time, he and his son are doing farm labor for someone else.

Peter died on Feb 13, 1933, at the age of 57, from acute indigestion.  A contributory cause was heart disease.  Peter had remarried in the years since the 1930 Census, because his wife is listed as Lou Boughner.  Someone also filed for a military widow's pension at that time.

Friday's Faces From the Past - My Big Sister

My sister gave me this picture recently.  It's a picture of the two of us.  I wasn't very old.  She and I have always been very close.  I noticed I have my hand holding onto her arm.  I find when things go wrong I am still holding on to her.  She is nine years older than me.  

Wishful Wednesday - My grandmother Anna Boughner Plummer

I saw this new blog prompt from GeneaBloggers  and it said write about the ancestor that you wish you could have met or write about a day you wish you could have been a part of.  Well, of course this got me to thinking.  So here are my thoughts.  

My first thought was I wish I had met my Grandmother Anna.  She was my dad's mother.  She died eleven years before I was born.  I know my dad thought the world of his mother.  There didn't seem to be lots of conversation about her, of course, he was a man.  The few times he mentioned her though I got the feeling that she was the person he relied on most in life.  I guess that is probably true with most of us.  Our mothers are so important.  

My mother spent time with my grandmother, just taking care of her.  She would sit and talk with her and try to make her fell better.  My mother started attending the Nazarene church with my grandmother.  

Anna started her life in Bracken County, Kentucky.  She moved away from her family home and traveled with her husband to a new place.  They lived around Cincinnati, Ohio for a short period of time.  Then they moved on to Brookville, Indiana, where she raised her children.  She and her husband, James, lived their later years in Connersville.  It wasn't until I started writing this blog that I realized that I had lived in her house for a few years when I was a small child, and that my great-grandmother had died in that house.  My great-grandmother's funeral was even held there.  That house had a lot of character, but it has been torn down.  I went back to find it and only have a picture of an empty lot.

I guess all that I know of my grandmother will be that things that I can dig up know.  Maybe I will get a feeling of knowing her that way.

Wordless Wednesday - Guitar Man

This is my Uncle George, I wrote about him in another post.  I don't know if he played that guitar, but I'm sure he probably did.  He is in the yard behind my grandparents house located in 2nd Street, in Connersville, IN.  This had to be in the 1930's.

Tombstone Tuesday - Warren Plummer

This is my contribution to Tombsone Tuesday for GeneaBloggers.

My Uncle Warren Plummer there is a story about him located here.

He died at age 40.  My dad lived the longest of the five boys and he only lived to be 65.

He Dropped Dead on the Steps Outside the Doctor's Office.

My uncle, Warren E. Plummer, my dad's younger brother was born on June 21, 1915.  He grew up in Brookville, Indiana.  He was the seventh child of James and Anna Boughner Plummer.  His early adult years were spent in Connersville, Indiana.

Warren moved to Richmond, Indiana and worked at the Hayes Track Appliance Company.  He married Helen.  Helen had children from a previous marriage, but Warren had no children of his own.

Warren went to the doctor for a check-up and was given a clean bill of health.  He walked out of the doctor's office and collapsed on the steps.  Warren died from a heart attack on March 28, 1956.  I was 1 1/2 years old so I remember my dad mentioning his name, but I was too young to remember him.

Florence Marie Plummer Bravard Greany Taylor - My Dad's Sister

My Aunt Florence was my dad's sister.  I only remember seeing her once, not long before my dad died.  The thing that I most remember about her was that she was old, but she still had dark hair.  She and their sister, Ethel, had come by the house and both of them did not have any gray hair.  My dad was 65 when he died and he had been sick for several years, but his hair was still mostly black.  I was certainly hoping they were going to pass that gene down.  Unfortunately, I think I took that gene from my mom.  I still don't have a lot of gray hair for my age, but it is coming along much more rapidly now.  Thank goodness for hair color!

Aunt Florence was born in Bracken County, Kentucky, before the family headed north into Ohio, and then on into Indiana.  She was born right after the turn of the century, August 24, 1903.  James Plummer and Anna Boughner, her parents moved with her to Ohio by 1906, where their son, Jimmy, was born.  The family then moved to the Brookville, Indiana area between 1908-1910.

Florence finished growing up in the Brookville area were her dad was doing some tobacco farming.  By the 1920 Census, Florence had moved out of the family home.  Chances are she had moved to Cincinnati, Ohio.   She had older half-sisters living there.  On March 8 1921, Florence married Charles Henry Bravard in Hamilton County, Ohio.  Dorothy Elaine Bravard, their adopted daughter was born in 1928.  I'm not sure exactly when the adoption occurred, Dorothy was living with them on the 1930 Census.  Charles Bravard and Florence divorced on April 26, 1932.

Florence married Robert G Greany, in Connersville, Indiana, on June 3, 1939.  They had moved back to Cincinnati by 1940.  I believe that she was married to Robert Greany up until his death, but I have not been able to confirm this.  I know she later married Ernest W Taylor.

Florence died in Cincinnati on July 25, 1978.  She is buried at St. Joseph's New Cemetery in Cincinnati, Ohio.  I haven't been able to get a picture of her gravestone yet.

I haven't got to Cincinnati yet to do family research.  I have quite a few people to look for there.

James (Jimmy) Plummer - A Street Car Driver in Cincinnati

Jimmy Plummer was my dad's oldest brother.  Jimmy died in 1940,  14 years before I was born. When I first started my research all I had was a name and I knew he died young.  He was James G. Plummer and he was born on October 3, 1907, in Cleves, Ohio. Soon I found a tombstone, in the same cemetery as my grandparents.  I seems a young man that lived to be 32 years old should have left more behind.  I found him in a couple of census records with his parents, in Indiana.  In 1930, I found him living as a boarder, along with his cousin. In Cincinnati, Ohio.

I started searching Ohio, there I came across a death certificate.   Wow, lots of information here.  He was married to Nellie Hein Plummer.  He was a street car operator in Cincinnati.  I now had the cause of his death.

All of the things i knew were just details, written on a piece of paper, I still knew very little about the man.

I FOUND A FIRST COUSIN! ONCE REMOVED ON ANCESTRY.COM!!!

My dad had three older half sisters.  I had their names and had found a little information on them.  Someone else on Ancestry.com was also searching for them.  We connected and started messaging each other.  Since then we have talked on the phone a few times.

She knew my Uncle! He came to her house when she was a girl.  She called him Jimmy.  She talked about him with feelings of nostalgia.  He had been a fun memory her entire life.  She remembers him as being "one of the handsomest men she ever met".   Those memories may have been clouded with sugar, because when he came to visit he always brought candy.  She and her brother really looked forward to his visits.  They didn't get much candy, so he was a very welcome visitor.

So now Jimmy is no longer a piece of paper or a tombstone, he is a fun uncle that just wasn't able to stay around long enough for most of my generation to get to know.  He died on October 3, 1940.

Had I not been researching on Ancestry.com I might never have found my new cousin.  I hope to spend more time listening to her stories.  She has much more information about people I never met.

Since getting this information, I have talked to some of my first cousins.  One of my cousins told me his father worked for the street car system in Cincinnati as an electrician and his grandfather worked for them too.   Surprisingly, there was more of a connection then I had known.  Recently, another cousins told me she believes she may have a picture of Jimmy.  I can't wait to see it!

Those Places Thursday - Atlanta Campaign

Those places Thursday I am devoting to places that my Civil War ancestors fought.  My great grandfather's brother Oliver P. Boughner was in Company D 16 Regiment Kentucky Infantry.  He originally October 8, 1861 and was dismissed in December 1864, because he was hospitalized in North Carolina.  

Oliver fought in the Atlanta Campaign through the summer of 1864.  The campaign was lead by General Sherman.  

Ella Marjorie Plummer Fussner Quinn - My Aunt

My dad had several brothers and sisters, but the only one that I really got to know was my Aunt Ella.  She and my Uncle George were the only ones who lived close by when I was growing up.  Uncle George died when I was fairly young.  

Aunt Ella with her brother, my Uncle Warren.

Aunt Ella was born in Brookville, Indiana on May 8 1912.  She was next in line to my dad.  She grew up around Brookville and then moved to Connersville, Indiana.  She married John Fussner when she was fifteen and he was twenty-three.  She had her only daughter when she was 18.  She was married to John for nine years and then they got a divorce.  She married William Quinn in 1936, when she was 26 years old.  I'm not sure how many years they were married, but they got divorced.

Aunt Ella was a wonderful, kind lady, but she had a problem.  She was an alcoholic.  I don't know when alcohol became a problem for her.  Ella's daughter, Phyllis, left to live with Ella's sister.  

Aunt Ella would come and stay with us for a week at a time, then one day she would just leave.  I didn't know why for a long time.  I found out that she did that with all her brothers and sisters.  She was a favorite aunt of all the kids.  When she came around she was so much fun.  She would give us lots of attention and everyone loved her.  She just couldn't stay away from alcohol for a very long time.  

Eventually Aunt Ella didn't come around any more, her health had gotten bad.  She went to Cincinnati to stay with her daughter.  She then moved into a nursing home until she died on September 24, 1982.

I will always remember the fun times we had with Aunt Ella, I wish she could have had some of the happiness she passed around to others.

Treasure Chest Thursday - The Indian

Treasure Chest Thursday

Here is one of my treasures.  It is a family heirloom to me.  Someone else may think it not worth anything.

This little Indian is a bank, with a little chip out of his nose.  This bank sat on my dad's bedside table for years.  My dad, Charles Plummer, has been gone now for almost 38 years.  This bank has been on a shelf in my bedroom for all those years.  It is a reminder of my dad.  Dad would put pennies in there and save them. When it got near the end of the month and he was out of money, he would use the pennies to buy things.  He didn't get a lot of Social Security so money was pretty tight.  When he was smoking he would use it for cigarettes (which I hated).  Dad died when I was twenty. When I look at the Indian I miss my dad.  This little Indian will stay with me and I will pass it on to someone else who will find it special. 

Wordless Wednesday - Who am I?

My mother had this picture put with her most personal items.  I believe this is one of my sisters.  I just don't know which one.  My mom had two fires over the years and all her pictures were burned.  Where did she get this picture?  A family member?  Maybe someone knows who this is.  I believe it is my oldest sister or my sister who died as an infant.  Do they clothes suggest a time frame?  How old is this child?

Tombstone Tuesday - My Missing Grave

My sister died when she was 10 months old.  My mother told me she had pneumonia.  My mother also told me that she had a nervous breakdown when she lost her, and it took her a little while to get going again.  

My mother knew everything about my little sister.  it seems my mom and dad were they only family members that did.  My older siblings don't know her birth date or even where she was born.  No one knows when she died or where she is buried.  There were never any pictures around because our house burned when I was a small child.  It's possible my oldest brother knew, but he died when he was 35.  I remember mom taking flowers somewhere when I was young.  I just don't know where.  I know her birth order in the family, so by looking at the years I am guessing she was born in 1943 or 1944.

My sister's name is Joyce Jean Plummer, I think.  My mom called her Genie.  My older sisters tell me her name is Joyce Jean.  I hope to someday be able to track down some information on her and find her grave.  When I do I will take flowers there for my mother.  Until then here are some flowers for Genie.

  

Military Monday - John Plummer Went To Two Wars

Military Monday from Geneabloggers.

My Uncle John William Plummer joined the military and went off to the military  when he was a young.  He came back home and then went back again.  

John went to the U.S. Navy on Dec 21, 1942 and returned on Nov 26, 1945.  I need to get his military records because I don't know where he was stationed during World War II.

I know he went to the Korean War, but I have no information on the time frame.

Obituary Sunday - A Suicide

U. S. Federal Census Mortality Schedule June 1, 1860

Bracken County, Kentucky

I don't have an obituary for my great great grandfather, haven't found any information at all beyond his wife and children, all I know is that he shot himself.  Why? 

 His name is John York, he is 28 years old and he is a farmer, and for some reason he committed suicide.  Why?  

Will I ever find out any more about what was going on in his life.  His wife was pregnant with their sixth child.  

Does anyone really ever know what causes a suicide.  I wish I knew what was going on in his life.

Meet Clark Gable's Golf Caddy and friend

My dad's cousin, Fred McCracken,  moved to Californa and lived there for several years.  During his time there he developed a friendship with Clark Gable.

I never met Fred, but when he came to Indiana, he would visit with family at my Uncle George's house.  During most of his visits back to family in Indiana he told stories about Clark Gable.  He first met Clark when he worked as his golf caddy.  He and Clark became friends and he spent more time with him.

Fred opened a race track in California and became a very wealthy man.  Fred apparently like to take cruises.   In ship manifests that I have located I found a couple of time where he was listed on the manifest. He returned to the US from Puerto Rico on the Borinquen on November 17, 1938.  He  returned from Honolulu, Hawaii, aboard the Lurline , on September 12, 1941.  He would have been in Honolulu just a couple of months before the bombing of Pearl Harbor.

Fred must have lead a very interesting life.

Here is a picture of Fred in his later years with his wife, Eva.  This was taken at my Uncle George's house.

The Family Ambassador - George Eckert Plummer

My Uncle George Plummer

There was a member of my dad's family that everyone seemed to know.  It was funny when I started finding calling up all my cousin's that I hadn't really ever known, they all had the same comment, " We used to go to Uncle George's house."  When I found the second cousin that I didn't even know existed, she remembered going to Uncle George's house when she was young.  My older sister said, "He always seemed like a politician." 

My Uncle George was the fifth child of James and Anna Boughner Plummer.  He was in the middle so maybe that is why he got along with everyone.  George was born in Brookville, Indiana on December 16, 1913.  He moved with his family to Connersville, Indiana when he was in his teens.  He moved next door to a girl named Thelma Diehlman.  

You always hear about the girl next door, well George fell for the girl next door and married her on April 13, 1935.  They had four wonderful daughters, and he spent the rest of his life with Aunt Thelma.  

After their marriage they moved just outside Connersville to the Brownsville area.  That house saw a bunch of activity during those years.  All the family members I talked to remembered visiting there and having so many great times.  My second cousin who lived in Cincinnati talked about how great it was to go to the farm since she grew up in the city.

My grandparents each spent their last days at Uncle George's house.  When they were ill and needed care, he set up a bedroom for them and took care of them until they died.  My grandfather's funeral was held in Uncle George's house.  All the out-of-town family members came and stayed for a few day's for the funeral.  My cousin remembers having 5 or 6 kids sharing a bed because they made room for everyone.  

Sadly, I was young when Uncle George died, so I don't have many memories of him.  I just remember when I saw him he reminded me of my dad.  

After Uncle George died, Aunt Thelma never remarried.  Uncle George died at the age of 52 on September 8, 1966.

Almost all of the family pictures that I have came form my uncle's daughters.  When people visited they took pictures and they have been great to share them with me.  They are getting together more for me.  They had the only pictures of our grandparents.  It's funny that of all our cousins, we were the closest with them growing up, but all the other cousins say the same thing.  

Here is a picture of Uncle George's house.

My great grandmother from Bracken, Kentucky - Elizabeth Isabel York Boughner

My great grandmother Elizabeth "Eliza" York was born around 1949 in Bracken County, Kentucky to John York and Elizabeth "Betsy" Frakes York.  She lived in Bracken County during all her years of growing up.  She had two older half-siblings and five siblings.  She was the mother of my grandmother Anna Boughner Plummer. 

I don't know a lot about her younger years, but I think things may have been rough.  Her father was a farmer and owned real estate in Bracken County.  When she was around eleven years old her father committed suicide, by shooting himself.  A few months later her youngest sibling was born.  Her mother had several children and no husband to support them.  Her mother continued farming with the help of the older children.

When Eliza was around 18 years old she married William T. Boughner.  William was from Bracken County too and they had probably known each other for most of their lives.  Relatives of William lived near Eliza.  William and Eliza were still living together in 1900, but by 1910 they are living separately.  In 1910, Eliza is living with her son, Charles,  in Clermont County, Ohio and William is living with one of his daughters.  Somewhere around 1913 Eliza moved to Brookville where my dad and his parents were living.  A few of her children were in Brookville by this time.  In 1920, she was working as a housekeeper for an elderly lady.  In 1930, my father's family had moved to Connersville and she was living with them.  She was living in the house that I lived in as a small child.  I believe that my dad was close to his grandmother, since she lived near them so much.

She died in my childhood home, the home that my grandparents lived in at the time, on March 7, 1932.   She had broken her hip two month before and was suffering complications.  She was 82 years old.  Her funeral was held at the Nazarene Church in Connersville and she it buried at Maple Grove Cemetery in Brookville.

Those Places Thursday - Stoneman's Raid 1864

I am devoting my Those Places Thursday to writing about my ancestors and where they fought in the Civil War in honor of the 150th Anniversaries that will be occurring for the next few years at battlefields.  I would encourage everything to take their children and grandchildren to visit a battlefield.  They are significant parts of our American history and the generations after all will need to appreciate that so they will continue to preserve the history.

My great grandfather William T Boughner fought in a small skirmish in December 1864.  It is located in Smyth County, Virginia.  The campaign was called Stoneman's Raid 1864 into Southwest Virginia.  William  was in the 54th Kentucky Mounted Infantry.

The men rode through the Cumberland Gap and defeated a makeshift force of Confederate Soldiers.  The Union forces destroyed leadworks, saltworks, and mines.

How I Met My Cousins On Ancestry.com.

My mom and I sat down and had a conversation about ten years before she died.  I asked her to tell me the names and information about all my ancestors that she could remember. I hardly knew any of my dad's family.  We had spent some time with my mom's sister's families.  I was the eighth of nine children and my parents were a little older when I was born, so I probably knew less than my older siblings.  I really wanted to know more.

About nine months ago I started working on Ancestry.com.  I have found loads of family information there.  It was a start and helped me to know where to begin searching.  I then went to health departments, court houses,  and libraries.  My son and I spent quite a bit of time at the Indiana State Library this summer doing research.  I found names on Ancestry.com, I wanted to make sure I had connected to the right people.

I have met a few cousins on  Ancestry.com.  I met a male cousin from Colorado one night.  I realized he was researching my mom's aunt.  I went to look at this tree.  After looking at his tree I determined he was my mom's first cousin's son.  At that time I didn't have a single picture of my great-grandmother.  He sent me the first one.  Talk about being excited !  Wow! Since then I have rounded up several more.

Later on I had been entering information about my dad's much older half-sister.  One night I got a message from someone saying I had the last name spelled incorrectly and that was why I wasn't finding any information on this person.  She also included information telling me where I could find her in a couple of census records.  I immediately responded and asked how do you know so much about this person.  She said it was her great aunt, her grandmother's sister.  I realized not only had I found information on the person I was looking for, I had also found a descendant of her sister.  

She wanted to know how I was related.  I told her the person was my father's half-sister, a child of my grandfather.  She said, "James Plummer is your grandfather?  He was my great-grandfather! How old are you?"  When I told her that I was more than 25 years younger than her she was really confused. I told her that my dad was one of James Plummer's children but he was much younger than the older children.  Then to top that off my dad was forty-five when I was born.  One we determined that we were really related, and we were first cousins once removed, she wanted to talk.

It wasn't long before we were on the phone.  She knew my grandfather!  She also knew some of my dad's  older siblings.  She knew them when she was much younger.  It was great to hear her tell stories of people that I only had names for.  I was able to tell her about other descendants that she didn't know anything about.  What a great time.

After she had given me the name of my aunt, I was able to find the death certificate.  She wanted to know how I had found it.  She had been looking for it for years.  It wasn't long before we were on Facetime so we could see what the other looked like.  We had a time set up to meet recently, but a snow storm came in.  Now she is away for the winter, so in the spring I hope to meet my cousin in person for the first time.

This is my cousin's grandmother's family from Ancestry.com.

Wordless Wednesday - Were my ancestors here?

My Wordless Wednesday for GeneaBloggers.  Did my ancestors ever see this view?

Tombsone Tuesday - John Norbert Boughner

John Norbert Boughner

My Dad's Cousin

John Norbert Boughner, my Dad's first cousin died at the age of 73, in the Veteran's Admistration Hospital in Indianapolis, Indiana.

John was born September 7, 1919, in Connersville, Indiana.  He was the son of Oliver and Elizabeth Baudendistel Boughner, both of whom preceded him in death.  His mother died when he was a young teenager.  He had four brothers, Tom, Bill, Marion, and Francis, who all lived around the Connersville, Richmond area.  He had three sisters.  Olive Cummings, Margaret Gill, and Helen Dollar.  

John was a World War II Army Veteran in the 772nd Military Police Battalion, serving from November 1942 to August 1945.  He was a member of the Amvets, American Legion, and Disabled American Veterans.  He was buried with full military honors. He was a member of St. Gabriel's Catholic Church.

Although we lived in the same town I never knew my Dad's cousins.  I really don't know why we didn't spend time around them.  I remember one time that my mom stopped at a house to drop off something, it may have been homemade jelly.  I asked her who lived there and she said your dad's cousin.  She went up and someone opened the door and they stood and talked for awhile.  I don't know if it was John's house or one of his siblings.  My brothers had met some of them around town.  They were older than my brothers, but they got to know them as acquaintances. The Boughner's told my brothers that they were related, but my brothers didn't seem to know how closely related we were. One of my brother's married a Boughner girl when they were older, I'm not sure they realized they were second cousins until later.  

Military Monday - My Great Grandfather William T Boughner

I am participating in the blog prompt.  Military Monday from GeneaBloggers.

Let me introduce one of my military ancestors, my great-grandfather William T. Boughner.

My dad's grandpa William T Boughner was born in Bracken County, Kentucky around 1846.  His parents were Peter Bale Boughner and Sarah Ann Linley.  When he was around fourteen or so he lived in Brooksville in Bracken County, Kentucky.  When the Civil War started he was still a youth.  The day came when he was ready to go fight.

He enlisted on September 1 1964, and mustered in on September 21, 1964.  He joined Company K-54th Mounted Kentucky Infantry. He enlisted for one year.  His military records list him as 18 years old. When he entered the regiment they described him as 5 feet, 5 inches tall, with a dark complexion, blue eyes, and black hair.  His occupation was a farmer, which probably means he farmed for his dad or the neighbors.  William apparently didn't like fighting in the war because he went AWOL in March and didn't come back until July.  He mustered out on September 1, 1965 in Lousiville, Indiana.

The 54th Kentucky Infantry operated against guerillas in Henry County, Kentucky until December 1864. They moved into southwest Virginia in December and stayed most of the month there.  They returned to Kentucky and handled provost duty around Lexington and fought any guerillas in the area until September 1865.

I will tell the rest of his story in another post.  He had a short-lived military career.

Ferry on the Ohio River

During my youth we never went on vacation.  Our vacations were a visit to our cousin's house.  My younger sister and I were the only ones left at home.  We would go on school vacations to stay with one of our older siblings and spend time with our nieces and nephews.  So one day when Mom and Dad announced that we were going on a trip for the day, it was exciting news.

My sister and I were bouncing off the walls with excitement.  "Where are we going?" was heard over and over.  "For a drive," was all they said.  Well we didn't go for drives, so it was still exciting.  We packed up and Mom brought along a picnic lunch.  Mom drove the car, I don't ever remember Dad driving, although I'm sure he did in the past.  Mom liked driving and he didn't. In all the years I remember he didn't have a driver's license.  Mom took us everyplace.

Well we took off in the car and headed down the road.  We drove through the country and stopped and looked at anything we found interesting.  My memories about some of the things we did aren't really clear anymore.  I thing we probably went down through Brookville.

  The first stop that I remember clearly was in West Harrison, Indiana.  We pulled up to a house and Dad said, "We are going to stop and see my sister.  "This was a sister that I only remember seeing twice, that day, and when Dad was dying.  When we pulled up she was sitting on the porch.  She looked to see who was stopped at her house.  The next thing I know, she was running out and hugging my Dad.  She said, "Charlie what are you doing here?"  He said, "Taking the girls for a drive down to the Ohio river."  He said. "Girls,this is your Aunt Ethel, my sister." I don't think we were there very long, because we had a lot to do that day.

We drove for a while and Dad pointed out things along the way.  Eventually we got to the Ohio River.  I am not sure if we had ever been there before, but it is a huge river in places.  We came to a point in the river, I'm  not sure where now, but we stopped.  We were going to ride the ferry across the river.  We drove onto a ferry and went across the river.  On the other side, we found a spot and had a picnic.  We enjoyed being along the river for a bit and then we got back in the car and drove back home.  

I now believe that we went down to the area in Kentucky where my grandparents were raised.  I don't know if Dad's parents used to take him there.  This may not seem like much of a vacation to most people, but to my sister and I it was the best vacation ever.  I asked her recently if she still remembers and she said, "Of course!"  

In my lifetime I have traveled to many great places, inside and outside the country, but that little vacation remains one of the great times in my life.

My Family Stories - My Grandfather James Plummer

I didn't know my grandfather.  He died eleven years before I was born.  He was born in Falmouth, in Pendleton County, Kentucky on June 16 1869, according to some records.   His parents were Margaret Barnes and Osborn D. Plummer.  He was the youngest of seven children.  Below is a map showing the location of Pendleton County, Kentucky.

I don't really know anything about his life when he was younger.  His parents were a little older when he was born.  His dad was around 45 and his mom around 35.  His dad was a farmer.  I don't think he went to school for very long.  Every record has his birth different.  According the the 1880 Census he was 13 and  working on the farm.  All the male members of the family were working on the farm, they probably needed them to work to be able to make enough money to live.

He got married around age 20 to a woman named Catherine Clark.  They had three daughters, Dolly, Maggie and Vergie.  I have not been able to find anything on Catherine Clark.  I found her name listed as the mother on Maggie's death certificate.  I know he and his mother were raising the children by 1900.  I am pretty sure she must have died young.  At that time, many women died in childbirth.   I don't know what happened to her but that is a good possibility.

James married my grandmother, Anna, on June 17, 1904.  They were married in Bracken County, Kentucky.  They had their first child in Kentucky and then moved to Ohio.  I am not sure if any of his daughters ever lived with them.  I know they had contact with him, but they all lived in the Cincinnati area.  I know the youngest lived with her sister for a while.

James and Anna moved to the Brookville/Metamora area and stayed there for several years.  He was a tobacco farmer in Brookville.  I don't think he ever made a lot of money farming.

When the younger children were almost grown they moved to Connersville.  They lived in a house on second street.  It is the same house that I lived in when I was young.  James worked as a sexton at the cemetery. I'm not sure which cemetery, there are a few that would be large enough to employ someone to take care of it.

James and Anna lived together until he got sick.  Anna wasn't able to take care of him.  He moved in with his son George for the last few months of his life so they could take care of him.  My cousins remember him living there.  They weren't allowed to go into the bedroom to bother him because he was sick.

When he died the funeral was held in George's house.  They kids remember having it there.  There were lots of family members who traveled to the funeral.  One of his daughter's from his first marriage had a granddaughter who came to the funeral and she remembers the girls all sleeping in one bed.  She said there were about six of them in that bed.  He died on April 1, 1943.  He is buried at Maple Grove Cemetery in Brookville.  His wife Anna died less than four months later, she rests beside him.  They were married almost forty years.      

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                          

Browsing collections on Family Search

Have you tried browsing records on Family Search? It is a great way to find records that are not indexed. It takes a little while, but it's worth it. I have lots of ancestors in Wayne County, Indiana.
They have digital images of a huge number of records to look through. I think they are working on the indexing but that is time consuming.

I personally am not patient enough to wait. I have found numerous family marriage records and amassed a large amount of information by searching the digital images.

The digital image sometimes contains more information than the certificate that you purchase. My parents wedding certificate did not mention my dad's first marriage. It is on the digital image from Family Search and it gives me the divorce date. Had I just taken the certified copy that my mother had and searched no further I would not have anything written down showing me that he had a previous marriage or that it ended by divorce in 1934.

Now, if only that digital record had given me the name of his first spouse, it would have been a home run.

If you haven't done so take the time to browse the records. It is free, you just need to set up an account.

Sorting Saturday - My Digital Organization

When I first started my genealogical research last spring I got folders and they were all color coded.  I though I would put everything nicely in files.  When I went to do research at the libraries I was dragging everything along.  After a few times of this I knew this wasn't going to work for me.

Next, I started carrying my laptop and of course I had my smartphone with me all the time.  I could look up my Ancestry.com tree and my Family Tree Maker tree and know what I was looking for.  I had all the dates available and at my fingertips.  I  could scan everything into these programs.  I still wasn't totally happy with that.

For Christmas, my husband, who sometimes is annoyed by all my time on the computer, purchased me an Ipad.  He loves me though so he wants me to be happy.

Now instead of scanning things into my computer, I usually just take a picture with my Ipad.  I put the photo's into Dropbox so they will go directly to my computer also.

If I need to take any notes I use Evernote.

I love taking my genealogy research with me everywhere I go.  I always have my Ipad and my Iphone.  I have always loved technology so I guess that just carries over to my genealogy.  I have two of my loves combined now.  Yeah!!  Maybe I'm an ology addict.