Tombstone Tuesday: Fred Douglas Jones

Fred Douglas Jones

August 13, 1882--February 17, 1915

Bayview Cemetery, Morehead City, NC

1st cousin 3x removed

Image courtesy of Find A Grave

Fred Douglas Jones was the son of William Henry Jones and Emma Shepard and the nephew of my 2nd great grandfather Alexander Hamilton Jones. According to the 1910 census his occupation was a house painter.

Source Citation: Year: 1910; Census Place: Morehead, Carteret, North Carolina; Roll: T624_1095; Page: 21B; Enumeration District: 0002; FHL microfilm: 1375108. Source Information: Ancestry.com. 1910 United States Federal Census [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2006.

Fred Jones died at the young age of 32.  His life appears to have been cut short by a medical condition. 

Source Information:  Ancestry.com. North Carolina, Death Certificates, 1909-1975 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2007.Original data: North Carolina State Board of Health, Bureau of Vital Statistics. North Carolina Death Certificates. Microfilm S.123. Rolls 19-242, 280, 313-682, 1040-1297. North Carolina State Archives, Raleigh, North Carolina.

The cause of death was listed as aortic regurgitation. The following definition for the condition I found on the Mayo Clinic website. Here's the link for the page as well:  http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/aortic-valve-regurgitation/DS00419

Aortic valve regurgitation — or aortic regurgitation — is a condition that occurs when your heart's aortic valve doesn't close tightly. Aortic valve regurgitation allows some of the blood that was just pumped out of your heart's main pumping chamber (left ventricle) to leak back into it.
The leakage of blood may prevent your heart from efficiently pumping blood out to the rest of your body. As a result, you may feel fatigued and short of breath. Aortic valve regurgitation can develop suddenly or over decades. Aortic valve regurgitation has a variety of causes, ranging from congenital heart defects to complications of infectious illnesses. Once aortic valve regurgitation becomes severe, surgery is often required to repair or replace the aortic valve.

I wonder if my cousin felt the effects of this condition over the course of his life or if it came on suddenly. I don't know if I will ever know the answer to that question. What I do know is that 1915 was not an easy year for the Jones family.  My 2nd great grandfather, Alexander, would die just three short months after his nephew.

A Tribute To Fathers

My dad with his dad.

Mom with her dad.

My dad with his grandkids.

My dear sweet husband and our kids.

Happy Father's Day!

Something About Me Saturday: Loving My Daughter's Art Work These Days

These are a couple of my daughter's most recent creations. She absolutely loves coloring and drawing these days. I think these are pretty good for a five year old. To cut down on the clutter around the house I am trying to make a point of taking pictures of her creations and then only keeping some of the really special ones. The second one she made for her father. It's the two of them outside on a pretty day.

Where Were They?!

Image courtesy of Microsoft Office Images

I have genealogy ADD. It's just hard sticking to one family line. There's just too much to search, too much to find, and too many leads to follow. So where do I wind up? Probably not as far along into my research as I would be if I had a gameplan but you know. For now, this is the way I roll. :)

So something made me want to take a look at my paternal grandma's family again. Specifically, I felt like doing a search on Ancestry.com for new information on my grandmother Ethel Smith Murrell and her sisters Edna Smith Dix and Bernice "Hilda" Dixon. It was just a complete whim. And guess what? I found something. Before I go into what I found, let me give you a refresher on this side of the family.

My grandmother Ethel Smith Murrell was born in Wilmington, NC on January 6, 1911. According to her birth certificate, her father was listed as John Edward Smith, a carpenter, and mother, Ella Carr. I don't know a lot about my grandmother's family.  In regards to her father, I just know what was found on the birth certificate. Grandma didn't really speak of her childhood when I was growing up and of course, the genealogy bug didn't hit me until long after she died. My great grandma Ella is one of my brick walls. On my post from last year, Now What? What Am I Supposed To Do With That?, I discussed how she changed her name when she became affiliated with the Church of Father Divine. In 1940, I think she was going by the name Wonderful Marshall, which has made it a bit difficult to trace her whereabouts after that time. In 1930 she was listed as married and going by the surname Dixon. Maybe I would have better luck looking for records from when she was younger. I tried a new search for information on Ella and couldn't find anything. Then I tried my grandmother, Ethel. Nothing. Then it was  Edna's turn. Bingo!  Let me explain. 

When I do a search on Ancestry.com, I usually pull up records grouped by category. Like this:

From here, I would click on a particular record type and then try to find my person. Well I did that, but I had no luck finding anything. So I decided to click on the records tab on the right side of the screen instead of categories.

This is what came up initially. Then I scrolled down.

Images courtesy of Ancestry.com

That's when I saw it.  I forgot about the New York State Census!

I

Source Citation: New York State Archives; Albany, New York; State Population Census Schedules, 1925; Election District: 42; Assembly District: 03; City: New York; County: New York; Page: 13.  Ancestry.com. Source Information:  New York, State Census, 1925 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2012.

They were living in New York in 1925! Previously, I was under the belief that Ella and her daughters were still living in Philadelphia at this time. My grandmother Ethel and her sister Edna were both born in North Carolina in 1911 and 1918 respectively. According to my dad, the family then moved to Philadelphia where Ella married a Jamaican man with the last name of Dixon and shortly thereafter  Hilda was born. 

Here are some things learned from this record.

1) Don't forget to check those alternate spellings!  Here Ella and her daughter Hilda were listed with the last name Dickson instead of Dixon. 

2) There's an address! The family was residing at 326 west 37th street in New York City. 

Looks like they were living in the garment district.

In a parking lot. 

Okay not in a parking lot. I'm sorry. My sense of humor comes out at the strangest times.

3)  Ethel and Edna were in school. Where did they attend?  I will have to see if I can figure out where black children from this area went to school in 1925.

4) Ella (Dickson) Dixon was a little older than I initially thought. Her age was listed as 43 here. That would make her approximate year of birth 1882.

This is all good stuff indeed, however, I still haven't been able to locate Ella and her daughters in any census prior to 1925.  Where were they?!

Wordless Wednesday: My Dad With His Grandkids

My dad with his grandkids Summer 2012

Mom Mom and Granddaddy's House

My aunt Janice Murrell and granddaddy Harold Murrell 

sitting on the front steps.

Charlie (my grandpa's dog), me and grandpa.

Oh my goodness. When I started to do this post today, I closed my eyes first and pictured being inside my paternal grandparent's house. I bet that someone of you out there do that. You close your eyes and you're just there.  I usually start with the back of the house, because it was the heart of the home. Whenever my parents, brother, and I would come by and visit we would usually enter by the backdoor through the kitchen. The kitchen had that brown wood paneling that was very popular in the seventies. You know...this stuff.

Yeah, this stuff. Good ole 60's and 70's wood paneling.

Their paneling was actually a little bit darker. You can see it in the picture below. They also had dark wood cabinetry which seemed to make the space even smaller but I didn't mind because this was grandma's zone.  She loved to cook and you would usually be greeted by the smell of fresh rolls as you entered the back door of the house.

Me and my grandma Ethel Murrell

in her kitchen.

In the backyard, I would build forts out of folding lawn chairs and daydream. I would admire the beautiful flowers my grandma had planted all around the house. I learned how to ride my bike in their driveway. There were those conversations I had with my aunt Janice. She lived with her parents. She spoke of how her favorite color was green and how she preferred to sit in the sun. That's when I learned that the sun helped people make vitamin D and that was good for you. I liked the shade and would sit there with paper and pencil. Sometimes, it would be a coloring book and crayons. I would draw countless cards with flowers or grass, rainbows, a sun and M birds in the sky.

This is the envelope to one of the many cards that I made when I was little. 

I would make so much stuff that my mother would buy in bulk loose leaf paper. 

The inside of the card reads, "Dear Mom Mom I hope you will have a very nice day

P.S love and kisses."

Charlie and I in the backyard.

My brother and I at the back door. 

My grandparents lived at 110-11 195 St in St Albans, NY. I found out in the last month that Google Maps  updated their information to now include a ground level view of the house.

It was a relief to find mom mom and granddaddy's house in better shape than my maternal grandmother's home. If you missed that post here's the link: Mappy Monday: Bits And Pieces Of My Childhood.  The fence could use a little paint but hey I'll take it. :)

Something About Me Saturday: One Of My Favorite Places

My husband and I absolutely love Cape Cod. We usually make a trip there once a year. We find it is just the best place to recharge our engines.  I like quiet beach vacations. No Jersey shore for me folks. I like places where you can hear your thoughts and connect with God. The outer Cape is a great place to do just that. These pictures I believe are from 1999 or 2000 and were taken in Truro, Massachusetts.

Corn Hill Cottages in Truro, MA