Monday, July 12, 2010

Smith, Stanley, Meeks and Mabray Families (Oatman and Newman too)

Hen Roo is giving me the chicken eye and a "and why aren't you out here working" look.

I'm not out doing anything in the heat because I took the day off.
So there you silly chicken.

Well, I'm not working inside the house either. I did scout around for boards to use to build up an empty space where a kick board needs to be nailed. I didn't see any boards the right size. Tomorrow. I'll find one tomorrow. I hope.

So instead of working I've been searching around on the internet looking for info about my mother's people. The Smiths, Stanley, Meeks and Mabray.

Oatman, Newman:
I don't know anything much about my Dad's side of the family except they were German with the surnames of Oatman and Newman. My Dad's father immigrated from Hamburg, Germany and was born in Prussia or Russia. There must be some very interesting family history there. Relatives? I think my Dad's mom was born in the United States.

I Found A 4th Cousin:
Blogs are really pretty amazing things. I have been interested in finding out about my great grandmother Callie Clarinda Meeks Mabray.

In March of last year, after some searching I found this post and a 4th cousin here, (Hi, Kay).


I was very lucky to find Kay and only because she had mentioned some of her ancestors in a post. So when I did a search her blog showed up. Neat! Kay has shared with me some terrific stories about her family. Wish I knew some stories about my family. I lost touch with my mother's family when I was a child.

I Found My 4x Grandmother:
Three days ago I found this page about Callie Clarinda's grandmother, Lurana Smith Stanley Ransom. There is even a photo.

Webberville, Texas must have been the wild west for sure. I read that Webberville was also called Hell's Half Acre in the early days. Lots of good stories about early families at this site.

Cherokee:
Today I was looking for Lurana Smith's father. I don't know his name except for Smith. Her first child was named Buck, so I thought maybe he might have been named after his grandfather? Lurana is said to have been full blood Cherokee, so that makes her dad Cherokee. Ha! Well I tried and did find a Buck Smith here and there, but not with Lurana.

Maybe someone will be searching for a Buck Smith and find this post. Well, it could happen. I do wish my Cherokee Smith's would find me. Or my Meeks family... they might have family records.

I sure wish there were records, but at that time the Indians wanted to pass for white and many never were recorded anywhere as Indian. Now people want to prove their Indian heritage and the "real" Indians don't want them. Ha! Bet they never thought that was going to happen.
(July 12, 2009)

[4 eggs today]

~:>
Smiles

15 comments:

~Kim at Golden Pines~ said...

I really enjoy Family History! Though I am not from this part of Virginia, my family used to live in the town where I work and their house is still there. I've always wondered what they would have thought if you'd told them that
100+ years later, their house would still be standing and an ancestor would be passsing by it everyday...

Vicki Lane said...

I think the Eastern Band of Cherokees in NC keep records -- have you checked their website? And probably so do the Oklahoma Cherokees.

lisa said...

History is great, and my mother in law is great in getting information on their ancestors in the montgomery side of the family! Good luck on your search!

Lisa said...

How neat! I always think I want to start digging into my family history and then I fizzle out. Its a combination of not having enough information (all of my grandparents are dead and I am missing one parent already) and not having enough focus!

diane b said...

It sure is fun delving into family histories. I should do more.

JoyceAnn said...

Hi Callie ~ Sounds like you're finding interesting things out about your family. I have the books called Cherokee Roots , they have the Eastern and Western Rolls listed. I'll do a look up for you sometime today and see if I can find your family names listed. Although everyone wasn't listed , some Cherokee people didn't list. I've searched for many years for our Cherokee connection and I'm pretty sure I've made our connection , although I haven't been able to prove it. I don't want to register as Cherokee , I just wanted to know for sure and pass the ancestry on to my kids and grand kids. I wish you well with your search.

Hope the chickens enjoy their treat.

~ Many Blessings ~

Made In The South said...

Thanks for stopping by. I loved my maw maw and those snowbells ment alot to me. She lived to be 100, and I so wished I would have gotten more history from her. She started getting a little confused on names and dates in her later years. Love your chickens, we have a few,but hope to move one day where we can have more and some goats. Have a great week and stay cool, Missy

LindaG said...

Good luck with your searching. :)

Chicken Boys said...

Several of my family members have done history searches on my family. I've never really been that interested. Not a wise thing, methinks. I don't have kids, but I need to be able to tell stories to my nieces and nephews, eh?!
~Randy

DayPhoto said...

I love Genealogy and even do research for our local Museum.

Linda
http://coloradofarmlife.wordpress.com

DeniseinVA said...

Genealogy is such neat thing. I think it's great that you are finding all these relatives. I have tried for ones in the UK but I think I got a bit discouraged with little success. I'll give it another go one of these days. One of the reasons I put my parents old photos in the side bar of my blog is that I am hoping someone will surf in one day and recognize a photo. It's happened, not with me yet but one day maybe. Thanks for stopping by.
An English Girl Rambles

Millie said...

It is hard to find those ancestors. I have a couple of family stories about Cherokee and other Native American ancestry. I've been thinking about getting my parents to submit DNA to the human genome project and see if there is any truth to it. (from my human; my ancestry is all Saanen)

Sara said...

Well, here's another cousin for you:) Lurana was my 3rd-great-grandmother - I descend from her through her son, Elias Kavanaugh Stanley. One of our cousins, Connee Brown Kroeger (deceased), worked for several years on this Smith research. She left me her Smith files, I'm still reviewing her research before I work on this line. I'd be happy to collaborate with you on this family.
Sara Buntyn
Houston, TX

Unknown said...

Hi Callie. You have now found another relative. My grandmother Ada Meeks was a sister of Callie Meeks. Lurana Smith was my gg grandmother. Martha Meeks was my ggrandmother. I live in central CA in Stanislaus County. I have the whole line of Meeks, etc. that goes to the 1200's in France. Email me when you get time. I can share what I know. I have the book Nathan and Sarah and All Our Children. You are in there and so am I. We are listed in the same generation under James Franklin Meeks heading. I have been been reading your blog ever so often for over a year. I tried once before to post on here, but it wouldn't go through. You have been looking for Buck for a while. He died when he was 3 so that is why you couldn't find more about him. I can also tell you about my DNA as I had 3 tests done through Family Tree, including full sequence.

Unknown said...

Hi Gerry and Callie -- I have the Nathan and Sarah book too, as I'm also a descendant. (My mother is in there -- Raynelle Hughes -- but my father's name is misspelled and they didn't find my siblings and me.) Do either of you have info about the Jones line, as well as Meeks? I've been trying to trace the tiny bit of NA DNA we found from our mother's side on 23andme, confirming family stories. Love to hear from either of you!