Madness Monday: Katrina + 5

Remembering those lost in Hurricane Katrina due to the madness of both natural and man-made disasters.  Thinking of those who are still rebuilding their lives all along the Gulf Coast.

For news coverage, see: nola.com, al.com, gulflive.com.

St. Louis Cathedral, Jackson Square, New Orleans, Oct. 2009.  Digital photo copyright 2010 by Liz Hall Morgan, all rights reserved.

Treasure Chest Thursday: Back to school in 1901 Louisiana

This is an ad I found in a 1901 Lafayette, La. Advertiser while doing genealogy research on Ancestry.com.  I thought a few of my Tiger pals would get a kick out of reading about Louisiana State University's "oldest and best Sugar Course in America" and its "Instruction thorough, modern, practical, fitting young men for success in any calling." [Sorry ladies, the first woman wasn't enrolled until 1904.]

My dad, George Hall, and his brother John both attended LSU.  Dad earned a bachelor's in biology, Uncle John in dairy science.  Both attended on the G.I. bill, I think, after World War II.

LSU opened its doors in 1860 as the Seminary of Learning of the State of Louisiana.  Hmmm, that means its 150th birthday is this year.  I can almost smell the grills firing up for some amazing tailgate celebrations this fall!

Click here for more on LSU history.

Text copyright 2010 by Liz Hall Morgan; all rights reserved.

Tombstone Tuesday: Hannah Kilpatrick Stevenson Dobbins

Hannah E. Kilpatrick Stevenson Dobbins headstone, Tulip Cemetery, near Athens, Claiborne Parish, La.  Photo by M. Hall, abt. 2005.

Hannah [the headstone spelling is wrong] was my great-great-grandmother.  She married James W. Stevenson (my great-great-grandfather), and later married Giles Weaver Dobbins.  She was born Nov. 19, 1848, in Franklin County, Tennessee, to John Milton Kilpatrick and Emily Coleman Morgan.  Hannah died Dec. 13, 1927, in Marsalis, Claiborne, Louisiana.

Treasure Chest Thursday: V-J Day

Note: For some reason, probably my own error, this didn't make the Geneabloggers "Sentimental Sunday" feed, so I'm reposting for "Treasure Chest Thursday." If this is a repeat for you, thanks for your patience. --Liz

Sixty-five years ago Sunday was V-J Day, or "Victory over Japan Day," the day Japan announced its surrender in World War II, at least on the Japanese side of the international date line, where my dad, George Hall, was a U.S. Navy fighter pilot.  It apparently was still Aug. 14, 1945 in the United States.  (However, my trusty Associated Press Stylebook says that V-J Day is considered to be both Aug. 15, the day fighting ended, and Sept. 2, the day of official surrender.)  In any case, I wanted to post a photo of a flyer printed by my dad's aircraft carrier, the USS Hancock, which he kept with his Navy memorabilia (click photo to enlarge it).

"War Over!" flyer, USS Hancock, off Japan, August, 1945, privately held by the Hall family, La.  Digital photo by Liz Hall Morgan, Feb. 2010.

The flyer reproduces the text of the message from the Secretary of Navy which was "read to all hands at 0900, Tokyo time, 15 August by Captain Hickey," and President Truman's address to the American people.  It also states that the chaplains later led the crew in a prayer of thanksgiving and also a prayer for those who gave their lives in the war.

Dad said he was on patrol in the air in his F6F Hellcat at the time Japan's capitulation was announced, and he & his colleagues celebrated by doing a loop or two and chasing each other around the sky, though they were on alert for any Japanese planes looking to make a final attack.  He thought a buddy in his air group (VF-6) shot down the last enemy plane of the war, though I don't know if that was ever proven.

Copyright 2010 by Liz Hall Morgan, all rights reserved.

"What I did on my Treasure Chest Thursday": a Friday review

South Pasadena, Calif. Farmer's Market, 31 July 2008, from "Benjamin Page's Pasadena and Los Angeles by Benjamin Page," on Flickrphoto, used under Creative Commons license.

Treasured Afternoon
by Liz Hall Morgan

Farmer's market day
Pluots, peaches, plums, oh my!
Heirloom tomatoes

Such dazzling produce
Redyelloworangebluegreen
Drat! No camera!

Sandwiches gourmet
Tuneful French accordion
Al fresco delight

Craved-for gelato
Sicilian pistachios
What more can I say?

Photos in my mind
Hubby and his lovely sis
These are my treasures

Text copyright 2010 by Liz Hall Morgan, all rights reserved.

Tombstone Tuesday: Pate/Cotter, Ringgold, LA

Newton King Brady (or Bradie) Pate and Etta Orisca Cotter Pate are my great-grandparents, my maternal grandmother Edna Maud Pate's parents.  They are buried in Pleasant Grove Cemetery in Ringgold, Bienville Parish, Louisiana.

Headstone of Newton King Brady & Etta Orisca (Cotter) Pate, Pleasant Grove Cemetery, Ringgold, LA, Feb. 2005.  Photo copyright by J. Marler, 2005, used with permission.

N.K.B., or "Newt," as he was also known, was born to Anthony William Pate & Emily Lena Smith Pate 30 Dec 1852 in Sparta, Bienville, La. and died 15 March 1932 in Ringgold, Bienville, La.  He married:

Mary Elizabeth Jones 28 July 1874 in Webster Parish, La. (Child: Lilla Pate Collinsworth)  After Mary's death, he married:

Mary E. McGraw 20 Sept 1877 in Bienville Parish, La. (Children: Andrew Nelson Pate, Lofa May "Lofie" Pate, Carrie Arminty Pate, Mary Margeana "Margie" Pate Bryan, and Anthony William "Will" or "Willie" Pate)  After her death, Newt then married my great-grandmother,

Etta Orisca Cotter, 2 Sept 1886 in Bienville Parish, La.  Etta was born to William Hadden Cotter & Queen Ann Elizabeth (a.k.a. Elizabeth Ann) (Farris) Cotter 19 Mar 1859 in Ringgold, Bienville, La. and died 27 June 1937 in Ringgold, Bienville, La.  Newt and Etta's children were: Lucy Elizabeth Pate Corley, Minnie Lee Pate Wimberly, Emily "Lena" Pate Scott, James "Weaver" Pate, Zella Estella or Estelle Pate Young Giddens, Edna Maud Pate Stevenson, Ora Adell Pate Woodard, and Jasper "Brady" Pate (a.k.a. J.B.).

For more on my Pates, including Bible records, portraits and stories, click here.  For other Pate families in Louisiana and elsewhere, check out the late Jinks Pate Lee's website.

Text copyright 2010 by Liz Hall Morgan, all rights reserved.

Surname Saturday: McCOY from Ireland to DE to LA

Today we have my McCOY line, one of my few Northern lines, originating from my maternal great-grandmother. Corrections, additions, and questions welcomed; this is a work in progress. Numbers refer to ahnentafel (pedigree chart) numbering. Sources are available--just ask!  See my blog ("about me" on the right sidebar) to contact me for more info or to share info.

Immigrant ancestor Alexander McCoy's plot in Wilmington & Brandywine Cemetery, Wilmington, Delaware.  Digital photo courtesy of J. Marler, Nov. 2009, all rights reserved.

(The direct line is in bold; spouses in bold italic.)

1. Liz HALL MORGAN - me
3. Mom STEVENSON
6. Alvin Jasper STEVENSON (Sr.) (1897-1974)

13. Maggie Elizabeth McCOY.  Born on 16 Aug 1876 in LA. Maggie Elizabeth died in Minden, Webster, LA, on 11 Aug 1937. Buried in Athens, Claiborne, LA (Tulip Cemetery near Athens). On 30 Nov 1893 in Athens?, Claiborne Parish, LA, she married:
12. John William STEVENSON. Born (to James W. Stevenson and Hannah E. Kilpatrick) on 9 Jul 1871 near Homer, Claiborne Parish, LA. John died in Caddo Parish, LA, on 29 Apr 1942. Buried in Athens, Claiborne, LA (Tulip Cemetery near Athens). 
Children: Ethel Gertrude Stevenson, Alvin Jasper Stevenson (Sr.), John T Stevenson and Vera Mae Stevenson Frye.

26. James McCOY. Born abt 1841 in Wilmington, New Castle, DE. A cabinetmaker and then a cotton mill worker, James died in Wilmington, New Castle, DE, on 26 Jan 1906.  Buried in Wilmington, New Castle, DE (Wilmington & Brandywine Cemetery). Between 1865 & 1872, prob. in LA (where he reportedly moved to be a supervisor in a cotton thread mill in the Arizona community near Homer, LA), he married:
27. Rebecca “Jane” HARRELL. Born (to Levi Thomas Harrell ("Billy") and Rebecca A. Smith) abt 1854 in AL. Rebecca Jane died in Lincoln or Union Parish, Louisiana, abt 1881.
Children: (son) N. McCoy [died young?] and Maggie Elizabeth McCoy Stevenson.
Note: We'd love to know more about Jane if anyone has more info.

52. Alexander McCOY. Born in 1816 in IRELAND.  Alexander was a cotton weaver and farmer and died prob. in Wilmington, DE, in 1872.  Buried in Wilmington, New Castle, DE (Wilmington & Brandywine Cemetery). Before 1838, prob. in PA, he married his first wife:
53. Margaret ALLEN. Born in DE. Margaret died in 1849, prob. in Wilmington, DE.  Buried in 1849 in Wilmington, New Castle, DE (Wilmington & Brandywine Cemetery).
Children: Martha Jane McCoy Garey or Geary, Ann or Anna McCoy McCartney, Mary McCoy, William "Will" McCoy, and Emily McCoy Colwell.
(Alexander's second wife was Margaret BRANNEN or BRANNON, whom he married 4 July 1850, in Loveville, near Wilmington, DE. They had children Catherine B. "Kate" McCoy Johnson and Alexander McCoy (Jr.).)

Follow Friday: "The Cajuns" website

Note: "Follow Friday" is a theme used by some geneabloggers to recommend other bloggers, websites or genealogy resources of interest.

Stanley LeBlanc's The Cajuns website has useful info and links for researching South Louisiana ancestors (especially Cajuns, but also others), including history, maps, place names and even a list of hurricanes to hit Louisiana.  Stanley also offers various reports for nominal fees.

Now was "b" for baptism, burial, or birth? (Oh my!)  And what was that church's name in Duson?

After I e-mailed him that I had mentioned his site's useful key to the abbreviations of Hebert's Southwest Louisiana Records (SWLR) volumes, he replied that he had been meaning to add more abbreviations lists and almost immediately added info for Hebert's South Louisiana Records (SLR) volumes.  (Both are under the "Resources" drop-down menu.) How's that for service?

Stanley has also added info for the Diocese of Baton Rouge Catholic Church Records volumes (DOBR) and the Sacramental Records of the Roman Catholic Church of the Archdiocese of New Orleans (ADNO) volumes (also under the "Resources" menu).  Each of these multivolume sets do contain a key in each book.  However, if you've used library volumes or Internet sources (trust but verify!) and aren't sure about a particular abbreviation later, or if you want to figure out what year a parish was organized to narrow down where an ancestor was baptized, for instance, Stanley's lists can be a big help.  His "Corrections" link also points you to published corrections to some of these and other well-known compilations of Louisiana records.  Don't neglect checking corrections and additions to these volumes, as you could find an elusive answer in this way.  "The Cajuns" thus is a useful complement for your South Louisiana genealogy research, and fun to peruse, as well.

Copyright 2010 by Liz Hall Morgan.  All rights reserved.

Treasure Chest Thursday: Dad's military personnel file, part five

I'm sharing the recently-acquired military personnel file for my dad, a WWII U.S. Naval aviator in the Pacific, a few pages at a time.  Click here to see what I've posted so far, and click on any image to enlarge it.

Last week, I posted Dad's Navy separation document, which listed some of his training to become a Navy pilot.  Here are a couple of books he used during that training.

Dad had 13 weeks of "Prep Flight" training in Natchitoches, La., where he no doubt used the book pictured below:

Principles of Flying, manual used by George Hall and privately held by the Hall family, La.  Digital photo by Liz Hall Morgan, Jan. 2010.

Next was "WTS" [W---? Training School?] at SLI (now University of Louisiana Lafayette) in Lafayette, La. for 14 weeks.  Here is the log book for that training:

CPT Pilot Rating Book used by George Hall in US Naval aviator training and privately held by the Hall family, La.  Digital photos by Liz Hall Morgan, Jan. 2010.

Dad then trained in Athens, Ga., St. Louis, and Pensacola, Fla. before becoming certified as a naval aviator and receiving a commission.  (More on that to come.)  Dad also recorded his memories on a DVD; once I learn more about DVD editing, I will perhaps post a snippet or two of digital video and let him tell you about his service in his own words.

Find out more about requesting military personnel files here.

(Almost) Wordless Wednesday: Remembrance of cobblers past

Proust had nothing on my mom's peach cobbler.  I may be 1700 miles away from home, but one bite of this recipe and she was with me. :)

Text/images copyright 2010 by Liz Hall Morgan.  All rights reserved.

Tombstone Tuesday: Peggy Catherine Stevenson

[Peggy] Catherine Stevenson, Jan. 21, 1934 - May 3, 1934, Tulip Cemetery, in Claiborne Parish near Athens, Louisiana.  Photo by M. Hall c. 2007, privately held by Liz Hall Morgan.

Peggy Catherine (there apparently wasn't room for her entire name on the stone or it was a mistake that was not corrected) was my mom's baby sister who died due to Rh disease. The third child of Alvin Jasper Stevenson, Sr., and Edna Maud Pate Stevenson, she is one of those children who live and die between censuses and are thus easily omitted from family histories.  My mother and a cousin or two may be the only living people who remember her; no photos exist of which I'm aware.  Mom says the arrival of her baby sister was like having her very own living baby doll.

I think she probably would have had light reddish brown hair and fair skin like her siblings.  Perhaps the closest I can come to imagining her appearance is by looking at one of the earliest photos of my mom, below (cropped and edited rather clumsily, but it will suffice).

RIP, Aunt Peggy.  You are still remembered with love.

Copyright 2010 by Liz Hall Morgan.  All rights reserved.