It's my blogiversary and I'll post if I want to ...

Peach cobbler, suitable for any celebration--or any day, in my opinion!

Hey, it's my blogiversary!  I've been lax about blogging in the last year or two, though I have been continuing to explore my family tree.  No big excuses, I just work more now than I did a couple of years ago (better for the budget, less so for research/writing time), and lately, I've had a tweaked neck (blame years of flute playing and my iPod touch).  

I find the more blogging I do, the less research I do.  So when I have had free time, it's been more about the research.  This year, one of my goals is to blog a little more (another: "desk-cavation").

(Note: You can blog without being an overachiever.  You still get the benefits of the occasional e-mail from a cousin and also the benefits that come from evaluating your research by writing about it.)

So what was I up to in 2012, genealogically speaking?  Here are some highlights:

• I attended all three days of Southern California Genealogical Society's 2012 Jamboree.  I met more bloggers and visited with others I previously met there or online.  I even saw Saturn (courtesy of a stargazing geneafriend) and chatted up Washington Post associate editor Steve Luxenberg.  His book about unraveling family secrets, Annie's Ghosts, is a compelling and moving read, and he was an interesting and entertaining speaker.  Info for this year's SCGS Jamboree (in June) is here.

At Jamboree, I met a Californian genealogist with ties to Claiborne Parish, Louisiana, Denise Spurlock.  Go read her blog.  I'm a cousin to her Kilpatrick cousins.  Which makes us "almost-cousins," I think.  Yes, small world.  I also met genealogist Kim von Aspern-Parker, who has cousins from my Southwest Louisiana hometown, of all things.  Smaller world!  Go read her blog, too.

• I've gotten hooked on DNA.  I've done more research on my "mystery grandpa" Robert Hall's paper trail (promising but not definitive), but now I'm adding DNA to the toolbox.  Dad's Y-DNA has been in a Hall surname study for a few years now with no close matches, so I got myself a Family Finder test at Family Tree DNA and have been slooooowly putting together who might be related and how.

Since roughly 25% of my genes are from Grandpa Hall (unknown parents), I'm looking especially closely at anyone with a surname list with Hall and/or full of unfamiliar monikers.  This takes a lot of time and patience.  Thank you, Cajun and Acadian cousins, for helping me weed out Grandma (Elia Legere) Hall's ancestry!  Your surnames are easy to spot.  (Trying not to think about Acadian cousins who also have Hall or British Isles ancestry--one problem at a time!)

I got a 23 & Me test for Christmas, and I think I may ask Mom to test, then transfer her results back to FTDNA (for a fee) to help sort out which cousins belong to which side of my tree.  Plus we'll be "fishing in two ponds."  A bonus could be that we extend a few of her lines (the two Smith lines, please? I'm in no hurry to research them!).

• I met another new-to-me cousin in person, a "2nd-and-change" Guidry cousin I enjoyed lunching with, and made a few new "e-mail cousin" friends.  One posted a portrait I think solves a photo mystery (more to come), and another shared some good research on our Hollier and McBride ancestors (his web site is here).

• A Trahan cousin sent me a photo of my great-aunt "Philo," Philomene Stemmans (Stemmann) Weber.  It was the first time I've seen her, at least since I was maybe two or three--I may have met her once.  Thanks!  I'll share it here if they don't mind.

There's more, of course: loads of fun with the 1940 census, death notice and obituary finds on Google News Archive for my McCoys, FamilySearch finds for McCoys and McBrides (updated here) and others, Facebook groups, reading, stories scribbled down from Mom every other time we talk.  I hope to share a bit more with you this year and perhaps next year's wrap-up will then be shorter!

Happy blogiversary also to Thomas and fellow bloggers posting at Geneabloggers--you provide a lot of inspiration and food for thought even when I'm not blogging so much!

And thank you all for reading!

Text copyright © 2013 and photo copyright © 2011 Liz Hall Morgan, all rights reserved.

Original post URL: http://mybigfatfamilyblog.blogspot.com/2013/01/its-my-blogiversary-and-ill-post-if-i.html

Veterans Day and my Hall family

Originally posted in 2009; worth a repost.  To all our veterans out there, thank you for your service.

For Veterans Day, I'd like to salute my dad, his four brothers and one of his sisters for their service to our country. All five of the Hall brothers of Sulphur, Louisiana, served in the U.S. Navy. How they felt about their sister serving as an Army nurse, I'm not sure, but I'll have to pose that question at the next family gathering!

My late dad, George Hall, served as a fighter pilot in World War II in the South Pacific.


George Hall, c. 1944. Photo privately held by author.

He originally trained on dive bombers, but switched to fighters when he heard more fighter pilots were needed. He flew an F6F Hellcat from the aircraft carrier USS Hancock in 1945, and years later, was still thrilled to see and discuss planes he trained in or flew in the war. Kudos to our family friend who recorded Dad's reminiscences a couple of years ago on DVD.

(By the way, Thanksgiving gatherings are a great time to record family memories! See the StoryCorps website for ideas.)

Dad was following in his older brother Bob's footsteps by joining the Navy. Robert Lee Hall (1920-2003) was a baker and petty officer on the troop ship APA 117 Haskell during World War II, and later on the aircraft carrier USS Boxer. He helped set up bakeries on ships and on various Pacific islands, including New Caledonia, New Hebrides, and islands in the Samoas and Fijis.


Robert Lee Hall, 1940s. Photo privately held by author.

Uncle Bob told his hometown paper 50 years later, "I remember the terrible heat below deck in the ships' kitchens and also in the tropical island kitchens. And sailors. I got so tired of seeing sailors, day after day, year after year, for the six years I was in service." The monotony was no doubt alleviated when my aunt Martha Burch, as his fiancée, took a troop ship to meet Uncle Bob in the Samoas, where they married and lived for a time.

John Bunyon Hall (1923-2008) was the third Hall brother to serve in the South Pacific during WW II. He worked in the torpedo parts room aboard the sub tender USS Fulton. He was part of a gunner's crew that shot down two attacking enemy planes during the Battle of Saipan.


John Bunyan Hall, 1940s. Photo privately held & digitally edited by author.

Two other living uncles served in the Navy after World War II, and one of my aunts was an Army nurse.  To respect their privacy, I won't name them here but will just say how proud we all are of all our relatives who have served in the military! Happy Veterans Day!

Explore your family's military history.  Talk to relatives, find out more about requesting military personnel files here and check out free records available at familysearch.org, for a good start.

Text copyright 2009 & 2012 by Liz Hall Morgan, all rights reserved.  Photos courtesy of Hall family.
Originally posted at: http://mybigfatfamilyblog.blogspot.com/2012/11/veterans-day-and-my-hall-family.html

Treasure Chest Thursday: Dad's Tombstone Tuesday and a treasure chest of memories

Note: This began as a Tombstone Tuesday, but being about my dad, it ended up as a Treasure Chest Thursday kind of post.  And yes, it was my "blogiversary" a few days ago, and I'm still here, but as I had the flu last week and now a cold this week (bleah!), the festivities will keep.

 

George Constant Hall headstone and military burial marker, Antioch Cemetery (within Big Woods Cemetery), Edgerly, Calcasieu Parish, Louisiana, Nov. 2011.  Photos courtesy of cousin Janice M.  (My (living) mom's info is on the other side, so I'm just posting Dad's half of the stone.)

My dad died two years ago Tuesday.  It was the night the New Orleans Saints won the championship that sent them to the Super Bowl.  He wasn't really responsive that night, but I'm sure he hung around just to find out how the game ended before he left us; we had the TV on & kept updating him on the score.

I want to tell you so much about my dad; where do I possibly start?  He was complex, like most--well, many of us humans (I can be a bit cynical about some of them), but also a man of simple, "old school" tastes and values.  

In the last year or so of his life (he had terminal cancer but managed to hold it off for 2 1/2 years on chemo in his late eighties), I delighted in, um, "showing him off" to a few people.  I know that sounds condescending, but he was, at times, a real "character" and enjoyed telling stories, whether it was Cajun jokes at my wedding in California or to his newly-discovered first cousins once removed in Louisiana, or World War II tales of derring-do to anyone interested in the war or in planes (he was a fighter pilot in the Pacific and loved, loved, loved flying). 

He blossomed in late life as a bit of a raconteur with his Baptist church's choir, the "Agin' Cajuns," who toured area churches and occasionally went on out-of-state concert excursions.  And he could be a real ham, too.  It occurred to me a few years ago that maybe I got the performing gene (I studied music in college) from him, only I break out in a cold sweat if I actually have to talk in front of a group of people; give me a flute & I'm fine.

I didn't think of the date Tuesday until I was doing genealogy research and came across an obit for someone who died last January.  I thought, "Hmm, he died a year after Dad," then I remembered.  I was a little sad, but mostly I just miss him in certain moments here and there when I think of him: in seeing a trailer for the movie "Red Tails" and thinking he really would have enjoyed watching the fighter plane footage, in joking about "evening up" some leftover cake with my husband.  (Dad had a habit of late-night snacking on sugary food he wasn't really supposed to eat; when caught, he'd say, "Oh, I'm just "evening up" this cheesecake.  Look at how ragged that edge is there!")

And then sometimes his words come out of my mouth or I hear his voice in my head (not as scary as it sounds).  The other night I was ready to eat dinner and my husband told me to go ahead and start while he finished using the microwave.  And before I knew it, I heard my dad's voice saying, "Yeah, I'll wait for you like one hog waits for another!"  Which I promptly repeated to my hubby, who laughed.  We already have a constant joke about Dad's saying, "that's good eatin'" about almost any critter you can name, catch/shoot and throw sauce over.

Other mealtime Dad-isms that come to mind every time there's a holiday gathering (I suppose because it always seemed to follow saying grace aloud and that's when that usually happens), are "Grab it and growl" and "Take some and leave some."  I'm guessing Dad may have been repeating my Grandpa Hall's words.  When you have seven kids in the Depression, you definitely have to grab food you want before it's gone and you might have to remind them to leave some on the table for others!

Those are just a few of the things that make me think of him often.  There are still many stories to tell about him:  I have to tell you about the time he and his brother were interrupted fishing by a truck flying off the interstate into the pond (they couldn't save the man but they did meet the Governor), Dad's "pet" alligator (yes, alligator), his penchant for cooking steaks on the car manifold while traveling, his incredible generosity and much, much more.

I miss his stories, the twinkle in his eye, his growly drawl, hearing a joke for the third (or fifth, or seventh) time, his flirting with his nurses or waitresses or whoever new was in the room (it was completely harmless, though), even his stubbornness.  (Yeah, I inherited that.  It's the Cajun/Irish-ness, I think.  But it comes with tenacity, too, not a bad inheritance.  It certainly impressed his doctors.  How many late 80-somethings do you know who fish and garden and ride an exercise bike on chemo?  He even fished once while wearing a chemo pump.  He put it in a plastic bag.)  I probably got his sense of humor, and his storytelling influenced me a lot, I'm sure.

We butted heads at times, but that became less as we both grew older.  In searching for clues about my grandpa in the last 20 or so years, I have somehow also come to understand my dad a bit more.  A year before he died, Dad told me something that let me know he had finally come around to understanding me, as well.  He had an episode of internal bleeding so bad I was told to fly home to Louisiana immediately because they didn't know if they could stop it.  I stayed a few weeks and when I left, it was very emotional because, though Dad was better, I wasn't sure I would see him again.  I might not make it home in time the next time. 

Dad told me something that day that stays with me now: "I wish you could stay a little longer.  I feel like I'm just getting to know you."  Now maybe it sounds a little sad that my dad was just getting to know me at 45, but I've lived in California since I was 25, and our phone chats were never exactly heart-to-hearts (Mom's department), so it was really more like: "Hey, I'm seeing you as your own person now, not just my daughter.  And I like what I see."  I think that was better than all the "I love yous" that he ever said to me.

I started this blog for fun, as an experiment and a way to share some info with family and possibly connect with cousins researching the same lines, and hey, maybe eventually solve the Grandpa Hall mystery!  After Dad died, blogging became a bit of therapy at times, a way to remember him.  I wish I had shown it to him, but his spirit is in it, with every story I tell about him or his side of the family (Mom gets less mention because I want to respect the privacy of living relatives--though she's thrilled whenever I write about her ancestors).  I guess I'll just have to keep writing about Dad to tell you all out there more, or perhaps I'll learn to edit digital video so one day I can post a clip and you can hear him tell a story or two himself.

Miss you, Dad.  Love you always.
--Liz

p.s. You know why a kiss over the phone Internet is like a straw hat?  'Cause it's not felt.  That one's for you, Dad. :)

© 2012, Liz Hall Morgan, all rights reserved

Hurricane Rita, five years later

 Sulphur, Louisiana, Oct. 2005, post-Hurricane Rita. (The tree fell in front of the house, thankfully, not on it.)

As a child, the solemn tones people imparted when speaking the names Audrey, Betsy, Camille no doubt formed my sense of the power of hurricanes at a very early age.  I don't remember how old I was when I learned that I should go into the hall closet and shut the door if a tornado was approaching, or into the hall at the very least, shutting all (wooden) doors behind me so as to be away from all windows.  It just seems like something I always knew, like knowing where to duck at this moment if the earth beneath my feet begins to tremble out here on the West Coast.

No doubt the collective community memory, if not the actual experience, of these storms, saved many lives when people evacuated Southwest Louisiana and Southeast Texas before Hurricane Rita in 2005.  And if stories of dead cows found 20 miles inland where they were pushed by Hurricane Audrey's 1957 storm surge wasn't enough to send residents packing, the still-fresh news footage of Katrina's aftermath to the east should have converted even nonbelievers.

Hurricane Rita hit the Louisiana/Texas border five years ago today.  I was in California worrying about my family back home in Southwest Louisiana and Southeast Texas.  I don't remember ever actually evacuating ahead of a hurricane in the 25 or so years I lived in Louisiana, only battening down the hatches and stocking up on canned goods and such.  But Mom & Dad and other relatives actually got out of town for this storm, even though they live about 40 miles from the Gulf Coast.

Staying away from home for almost 2 weeks was difficult (Calcasieu Parish, my family's home, was officially "closed" due to the lack of electricity in most areas, passable roads and potable water in some.  Cell phones, message boards, and e-mail relayed reports on local damage from those who stayed or sneaked in), though it probably paled to cleaning out the putrid freezers and fridges, everyone's least favorite chore, when they returned. 

My parents were lucky that only a few trees were downed (and fell away from the house instead of on it) and roof shingles damaged.  Many people came home to worse.  Some still have repairs left undone, and others cannot afford to return to the coastal areas due to stringent new building codes and expensive insurance premiums.

Some call this the "forgotten" hurricane, because news coverage of it was much less than for Katrina.  I suspect, however, that Rita and Ike will be the "Audrey" in the minds of my nieces & nephew and their children in the way that Audrey was the cautionary tale for my generation, told by those old enough and lucky enough to have lived through it.

Copyright 2010 by Liz Hall Morgan, all rights reserved.

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

I'm sharing the recently-acquired "official military personnel file" (OMPF) 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.

After training as a U.S. Naval cadet in 1944 in Athens, Ga., St. Louis (where he trained in, among others, Boeing/Stearman biplanes like the one pictured below), and Pensacola, Fla., Dad was appointed as an Ensign in the U.S. Naval Reserve.

 

George Hall, Planes of Fame Air Museum, Chino, Calif., Oct. 2009.  Photo by J. Morgan, privately held by Liz Hall Morgan.

The memo above concerns appointment as an ensign and reporting to the commandant of the Naval Air Training Center in Pensacola, Fla., for further assignments.  Dad's cohorts at the time included Arthur Dale Gripton, Robert Watrous Guernsey, Jerauld Anthony Gunzelman and Raymond Joseph Happley.

 

Above is the acceptance and oath of office, dated June 23, 1944.  Dad's oath: "I, George Constant Hall, having been appointed an Ensign, U.S. Naval Reserve, do hereby accept such appointment and do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; that I take this obligation freely, without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion; and that I will well and faithfully discharge the duties of the office on which I am about to enter: So help me God."

 

Dad's official notice of his new designation, "Naval Aviator (Heavier-than-Air)."  (Meaning he is qualified to fly airplanes, as opposed to balloons or dirigibles, at least according to Wikipedia.)

Find out more about requesting military personnel files here.
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.

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.

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.

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

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.

Although a copy of my dad's military separation document is one of the last items in his OMPF (Official Military Personnel File), I'm posting the scanned original as part four of this series.  Curiously, the file doesn't contain documents detailing his training as an aviator cadet, but this form lists the types of instruction he received with the location and duration of each, along with a wealth of other info. (Have you neglected military records in your own 20th-century research?  You might be surprised at how much info they contain.)  It seemed a logical next post as I discuss Dad's military career chronologically.

Notice of Separation from U.S. Naval Service (Form NAVPERS 553) for George Constant Hall, 21 Dec. 1945, New Orleans, Louisiana.  Digital scan of original privately held by the Hall family, La.  

A military separation document can provide a lot of genealogical information.  This one form contains: 

• my father's full name
• birth date and place
• residence
• date of enlistment
• date of entry into active duty
• date of commission
• date of separation, and
• place of separation.  

It also details the places Dad received specialized training and the length of each course:

• "PrepFlight," Natchitoches, La., 13 weeks
• "WTS," Lafayette, La., 14 weeks
• "PreFlight," Athens, Ga., 12 weeks
• "Primary, St. Louis, 12 weeks
• "Basic," "Instruments," and "Advanced," Pensacola, Fla., 27 weeks.

The form states that he served in Fighting Squadron Six (also known as VF-6).  Dad was a fighter pilot, and the form tells us that he served aboard the USS Hancock, an aircraft carrier stationed out of NAS Hilo, Hawaii.

Also given are dates and details of his previous employment, as a "derrickman (oil)" for the Union Sulphur Co. in Sulphur, La., and his preference (at the time) to work in aviation after leaving the Navy.  The form also lists his formal education (high school) and vocational training (3 months of machinist instruction) as of December, 1945.

Oh, and it tells me that Dad's draft board was in Sulphur, La., where the Hall family had lived since the 1930s.  For World War II draft records, only the Fourth Registration ("the old man's draft") is currently open to the public due to privacy laws.  I can wait for Dad's registration record--I don't expect to find any info I don't already know--but this is a great clue for my "mystery grandpa" Robert Bunyan Hall, who may have qualified for that registration (men who born on or between 28 April 1877 and 16 February 1897 who were not already in the military -- Grandpa's birth year is listed as 1875, 1877 and 1878 on various forms).  Currently, Ancestry.com does not have the Louisiana records (some records are online there), but they are available on microfilm.  Woo hoo!

While today's military separation forms (detailing release or discharge from active duty) are referred to as "DD Form 214" or "DD-214," the forms had other designations in the past.  The National Archives website states: "Before January 1, 1950, several similar forms were used by the military services, including the WD AGO 53, WD AGO 55, WD AGO 53-55, NAVPERS 553, NAVMC 78PD, and the NAVCG 553."  Find out more about requesting military personnel files here.

Copyright 2010 by Liz Hall Morgan.  All rights reserved.

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

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.

This week concludes Dad's initial application for Naval aviator training.  A great find was letters of recommendation from his minister, principal and assistant principal in Sulphur, Louisiana.

Rev. T.J. Delaughter of First Baptist Church wrote a nice letter, saying local men "speak of [Dad] as being a good honest boy."  The pastor, I've been told, would stop by occasionally to have coffee with my grandma Elia Legere Hall, whose biscuits he really enjoyed.  Somehow, I doubt many Southern ministers were thin with all the good cooks around back then.  They always had some little something ready to serve with coffee for unexpected visitors; that's just how it was done, certainly among my Cajun relatives.

 

Principal I.D. Bayne's letter.  Interesting to see what the Navy underlined in considering Dad for training: "honest, reliable and sincere" and "courteous, industrious and cooperative."

Asst. Principal John S. Whatley's handwritten letter, on older letterhead.  I like the old fonts.  The Navy recruiter underlined "above the average" and "very cheerful and willing worker," good qualities for a potential pilot.

What treasures! Wonder if other high school grads applying to the Navy required letters of recommendation or just potential aviator cadets?

Find out more about requesting military personnel files here.

It's Official: I'm "Ancestor Approved."

Thank you bunches to Linda of "Flipside" and Dionne of "Finding Josephine" for honoring me with the blogger badge "Ancestor Approved" for doing my ancestors proud.  Genealogy bloggers are a supportive bunch, and I do appreciate the encouragement. 

As a recipient, I am to list 10 things I've learned about my ancestors that have surprised, humbled or enlightened me, and to pass the award along to other bloggers whom I feel are doing their ancestors proud.

I was surprised that:

• I have so many French-Canadian ancestors (I grew up in Cajun Southwest Louisiana, so the Acadians were a given, but I wasn't aware of my Quebecois heritage until a few years ago).  They're turning out to be some of my most interesting ancestors, as they were among the first settlers of Mobile, Biloxi and New Orleans.  (Cousins: This is through Marie Octavie McBride Legere's mom's family line.)

• A couple of my colonial Mobile ancestors entered into a business arrangement with the ancestor of one of my good friends from high school -- a mere 280 years or so before we met! 

• I dated my now-husband for 10 years before finding that we're 7th cousins once removed.

• I'm still adding new nationalities to my tree.  I have Dutch ancestors through my Acadian lines (!) and a possibly-Swiss soldier ancestor who came to La. -- but no, I'm not adding any more adjectives to the blog title! (There's also Welsh and French-Canadian -- and Scots-Irish, if you want to get technical.)

I was enlightened and/or intrigued to find:

• I'm related to two U.S. vice presidents, Adlai Stevenson (VP to Cleveland) and Alben Barkley (VP to Truman), and also to the VP Adlai's grandson Adlai (the more famous one) who was Illinois governor and Ambassador to the U.N, all related through Mom's Stevenson lines.

• My "mystery grandpa," Robert Bunyan Hall, was apparently married a couple of times before he married my grandma, which may help explain why he preferred that his earlier life (including his parents' names) remain a mystery to his own family (or may not -- this is my biggest brick wall).

• I have a couple of musician ancestors (I have a music degree): My 5th-great-grandfather Jacques Leger arrived in Acadia in the late 1600s as a drummer in the French military, and my 6th-great-grandfather Claude Desbordes was choirmaster at St. Louis Cathedral in New Orleans in the mid-1700s.

I am humbled by:

• finding that some of my ancestors held slaves.  Not a surprising find, given most of my ancestors lived in the South, but certainly sobering when one reads the actual names of human beings considered "property" on censuses or wills.  I am still not sure how to reconcile this fact with nonetheless being proud of some of the same ancestors' achievements.  I think it must probably require holding two opposing ideas and/or emotions in one's heart and mind at the same time, though it must be even more difficult for those who descend from both slaveowner and enslaved ancestors.

• the fact that my Acadian ancestors and their descendants in Louisiana, the Cajuns, have maintained much of their culture for more than 250 years, despite being forced from their homes by the British beginning in 1755 and "scattered to the wind" along the U.S. East Coast, in England, France, and elsewhere.

• the fact that whenever I reach out past my own shyness to meet a "new" cousin in person or by e-mail, it is invariably a good experience (whether or not we have much in common besides family), and several have become good friends as well as cousins.

I'd like to pass along the "Ancestor Approved" award to the following bloggers doing their ancestors and/or fellow researchers proud: Anne at The French Genealogy Blog, Felicia at Echoes of My Nola Past, "Hummer" at Branching Out Through the Years, Sandra at I Never Knew My Father, Ruth of Bluebonnet Country Genealogy and Tess of NOLA Graveyard Rabbit.

Surname Saturday: Burnaman, Burnham, Burnam, Boernemann?

The quick version: Does anyone know of a Georgia (or any) BURNHAM (or similarly surnamed) woman who married a HALL man who could have given birth to a son (Robert, pictured below) around 1878 in Virginia or elsewhere? My e-mail address is at the bottom of this post.

You can see by my title I haven't exactly gotten far on this line.  I have all of one person, in fact, my supposed paternal great-grandmother: Georgia Burnaman, Burnam, Burnham, Boernemann? or something similar.  And that's IF my "mystery grandpa" Robert Bunyan Hall gave the correct names on his application for a marriage license to wed my grandma.  The handwriting looks like "Burnamen," but it's hard to tell.  

 Grandpa Hall, internationalstate man of mystery.

Here's my research in a nutshell:

Numbers refer to ahnentafel (pedigree chart) numbering. The direct line is in bold.

1. Liz HALL MORGAN - me

2 & 3. Dad HALL & Mom STEVENSON

4. Robert Bunyan HALL. Born on 18 Mar (1877 or 1878?) near Richmond, VA? Or possibly in Newton, Baker Co., GA? Robert died in Sulphur, Calcasieu, LA, on 20 Nov 1952. Buried c. 22 Nov 1952 in Sulphur, Calcasieu, LA (Roselawn Cemetery). He married a Corrie or Connie or Carrie WILLIAMS and a Jessie [last name unknown] bef. Oct. 1918.   
We have not been able to prove much about Robert's life before Oct. 1918 when he met Elia.

On 26 Oct 1918 in Carencro?, Lafayette Parish, LA, he married:

5. Elia LÉGÈRE. Born on 18 Sep 1889 in Ossun, Lafayette, LA. Elia died in Sulphur, Calcasieu, LA, on 18 Sep 1956. Buried in Sep 1956 in Sulphur, Calcasieu, LA (Roselawn Cemetery).

8. George Hall. Lived in VA? or b. c. 1843 and lived in GA (see below)?
Before about 1877-8, he married:
9. Georgia BURNAMAN? BURNAM? BURNHAM? etc.  Lived in VA? Or could she be part of the George and Georgia Hall couple living in GA about whom I previously posted?  This Georgia Hall was born in 1850 in SC, according to census records.

And IF the Georgia married to George in GA (yes, you read that right -- coincidence? Or was my grandpa making up names on the spot when he wrote "George" & "Georgia" on his marriage license application?) -- anyway, IF Georgia IS the correct mother of my Grandpa Hall, then could she be the Georgia BURNHAM b. c. 1848 in SC to William L. and Frances W. BURNHAM in Saluda Regiment, Abbeville District, South Carolina in the 1850 census?  (Siblings listed are Mary E. & Hilliard L. Burnham.)  I can't find this Georgia in subsequent censuses.

Note: Grandpa Robert (#4) always claimed to have been born near Richmond, VA.  The only logical George & Georgia Hall with a son Robert in the 1880 census I've found is the couple mentioned above who lived in GA.  But that doesn't mean they're the correct couple.  Or even that he gave the correct names (he wasn't exactly forthcoming about his past).

Thanks for ANY help with this giant brick wall.  I know I will probably have to do lots more digging on Grandpa and the HALLs to find "Georgia," but it was her turn in my Surname Saturday post series, so I thought I'd ask the geneasphere about any possible leads on her line. 

Questions, hints, leads, I've got the wrong couple/people? Please comment or e-mail me at hallroots ***at**** sbcglobal (dot) net.  Thanks!

Copyright 2010 by Liz Hall Morgan

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

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 part one, and click on any image to enlarge it.

These forms continue Dad's application for Naval aviator training.  Apparently there was no birth certificate issued in Lafayette Parish, La., in 1921 for him (The Louisiana Secretary of State's website says that statewide records were not kept until "about 1918." Some parishes were probably slower than others to comply), so his parents signed an affidavit giving Dad's birth date and place (actually in the community of Ossun, but the post office address was Scott).  This is the most handwriting I've ever seen from my "mystery grandpa," Robert Hall.

Dad was not quite 21 and had to have his parents' consent to enlist.  Now this is interesting -- the notary has typed my grandpa's name Robert Lee Hall.  I think this is a misunderstanding of "Robert B.," which Grandpa went by ('B' is for "Bunyan").  I may have to look for him as "Robert Lee Hall," in records now, though, if only to leave no stone unturned.  But certainly there were LOTS of Robert Lee Whozit's in the South--hence, the mis-hearing--and who would make up a middle name like Bunyan--then give it to one of his sons (my uncle John)??!!  Besides, he signed "Robert" on both forms.  I'm probably just wishing for a new Grandpa lead here.

Another fun find in Dad's application file: his Sulphur High School transcript.  He looks like a fairly solid 'B' student, with some C's.  Not surprisingly, his A's are in Geometry and Biology (he studied Bio in college, briefly attended med school, and ended up in the petrochemical industry).  Wonder if I can get his college records?  More fun to come with his recommendation letters next.

Would you turn over in your grave if your kids posted your HS transcript on "the Internets"? :)

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

I received my late dad's military personnel file in the mail last week.  I knew it would have a lot of informative yet dry facts, but I also have found some surprising and fun things in it, so I thought I'd share a few pages at a time.  It was worth the two-to-three-month wait for the price: free!  (Contact the National Archives if you'd like to request your relative's records.  Be sure to ask for the entire file if you are requesting records for family history purposes.)

Here are a few of the items (click on any photo in my blog to enlarge it):

Some of the most interesting things were in Dad's initial application to become a Naval Reserve aviation cadet: a handwritten letter from Dad, recommendation letters, the most handwriting of my Grandpa Hall's (on a form) that I've ever seen, and dad's high school transcript, not to mention his photo at age 20, looking a lot like my nephew (those ears! those curls!).

Dad graduated in 1940 and, knowing the draft was coming, thought he'd join the Navy after hearing about it from his brother Bob.  Then he saw a newspaper ad saying high school graduates could apply for the Navy's aviation training, and that was it for him.

George Hall, December 2008, National Naval Aviation Museum, Pensacola, FL, with the ad that started it all.  Photo courtesy of my sis.

For more, read my Part 2 post here.

Copyright 2010 by Liz Hall Morgan

(Not So) Wordless Wednesday: My dad's "Pacific"

I've been watching HBO's WWII-focused miniseries "The Pacific" and enjoying it.  I think my dad would have enjoyed it, though I'm sure he would have preferred more on the Navy and naval aviators like himself. :)  So here's a shout-out to Dad and his buddies.

George Hall (standing 2nd from R), possibly with the VF-6 air group attached to the carrier USS Hancock, 1945, at N.A.S. Hilo, Hawaii.  Photographer unknown, but probably an official U.S. Navy photograph, privately held by the Hall family, La.

Unfortunately, this photo was not labeled except for Dad's interesting note about himself.  The names of the others may be in a book our family owns, and I will certainly post more info if I find it.  I am not positive, but this is probably the VF-6 air group my dad flew with from the aircraft carrier USS Hancock.  It could also be a group he trained with.  But it looks like an official Navy photograph, so I'm guessing it's the air group, unless portraits were taken of "graduating" classes of naval aviators?  Dad initially trained on dive bombers, switched to fighters when the Navy needed more fighter pilots, and flew the F6F Hellcat in the last year of the war.

I received Dad's military personnel file last week, and am looking forward to blogging about it.  Meanwhile, you can read my other posts on Dad's Navy service here.

Copyright 2010 by Liz Hall Morgan. Please see my blog for licensing info.

Surname Saturday: HALL

("Surname Saturday" is a daily theme many genealogy bloggers use.)

I'm following ahnentafel (chart #) order for my Surname Saturday posts. (Don't worry if you don't know what that means; it's a genealogy thing.) Unfortunately, my shortest lineage and biggest brick wall is the surname I was born with: HALL.

1. Liz HALL married (Hubby :) ) MORGAN.

2 (Dad) HALL married

3 (Mom) STEVENSON.

4 Robert Bunyan HALL. Born on 18 Mar 1877? in Newton, Baker Co., GA? or 1878 near Richmond, VA? Died in Sulphur, Calcasieu, LA, on 20 Nov 1952. Buried in Sulphur, Calcasieu, LA.  On 26 Oct 1918, he married Elia LEGERE in Carencro?, Lafayette, LA.

[Note: Two previous wives: Corrie or Carrie WILLIAMS and Jessie [unknown last name].

5 Elia LEGERE. Born on 18 Sep 1889 in Scott, Lafayette, LA. Elia died in Sulphur, Calcasieu, LA, on 18 Sep 1956. Buried in Sulphur, Calcasieu, LA.

8 George HALL? of GA? or of Richmond, VA area? married

9 Georgia BURNAMAN? BURNHAM? BURNAM? 

Unfortunately, this is my shortest line, and my biggest brick wall.  For more info, see my posts about my "mystery grandpa" Robert Bunyan Hall, here and here. 

(Not So) Wordless Wednesday: 65 years ago today, Dad joined WWII

Flight log, George C. Hall, owned by Hall family of La., digital photos by Liz Hall Morgan, Feb. 2010.

After training as a dive bomber pilot, my dad, George Hall, answered the Navy's call for more fighter pilots and began training on F6F Hellcats with Fighter Squadron Six (VF-6) in Hawaii in December, 1944.  By the end of February, he was "heading for 'The Big Time'" in the Pacific, as he put it in his flight log, above.   His first flight of the war, from the aircraft carrier USS Hancock, took place on March 10, 1945 (below), over Ulithi.   He was 23 years old.

 

Copyright 2010, Liz Hall Morgan

Madness Monday: My mystery grandpa, part two, or "Eating an elephant."

Note: This post continues my "Madness Monday" post from last week about my "mystery grandpa," Robert Bunyan Hall.

Robert Bunyan Hall and Jerome Guidry, Sabine or Neches River, Texas, abt 1918.  Scan of original photo owned by the Hall family, La., cropped and edited for fading.

Robert listed “George C. Hall and Georgia Burnaman" [Could it be Burnham? Burnam? It's hard to read] as his parents on the application for a marriage license to my grandmother, Elia Legere, in 1918. This is the only George and Georgia Hall with a son named Robert of approximately correct age in the 1880 U.S. Census I’ve found--so far:

1880 U.S. Census, Georgia—Baker Co., ED 2, p. 36, lines 37-39

Hall, George, W, M, 35, farmer, b. GA, father b. SC, mother b. GA

------ Georgia Ann, W, F, 30, wife, keeping house, b. SC? [strike-through and correction], parents b. SC

------ Robert, W, M, 3, son, b. GA, father b. GA, mother b. SC

Following this family in the census, Robert’s POSSIBLE (unproven) parents would be:

George C. HALL. Born in Feb 1843 in GA. George C. died prob. in Quitman, Brooks, GA after 1910.

Residences:

• 1850, Lee Co., GA
• 1860-1880+, Newton area, Baker Co., GA
• 1900, Cairo, Thomas [now Grady Co.], GA
• 1910, Quitman, Brooks, GA

Occupation: Farmer [1864-1880+]; woods rider [probably turpentine industry], 1900; church sexton, 1910.  Civil War veteran [?? listed as disabled on the GA militia list of 1864, but can't find him in pension indexes]

Bef 1868 George C. married Georgia [C? Ann? BURNAMAN?], who was b. May 1850 in SC. Georgia prob. died in Quitman, Brooks, GA after 1910, possibly in 1928 [I have a death record for a possible Georgia who died in a poor house, and who had no relatives listed].

They had the following children:

    2    i.    William (b. c.1867 [in 1870 census] - d. bef 1880 census?)

    3    ii.    Robert (b. c. 1877, shows up with parents only in 1880 census)

George/Georgia HALL census sources [some ages/places vary.  Still, I think it is the same couple throughout]:

• 1870 GA—Baker Co., Newton p.o., p. 68, line 6
• 1880 GA—Baker Co., ED 2, p. 36, line 37
• 1900 GA--Thomas Co., Cairo [now part of Grady Co.], ED 89, Sheet 5A, line 3
• 1910 GA--Brooks Co., Quitman, ED 16, Sheet 2A, line 47.  [A Tom Hall, listed as black, is living next to them.  Who is this?]

As far as George’s parents, he is included in the 1850 Census in Lee Co., GA, in the household of Lucinda [HALL] Millican [with his probable sister, Amanda Hall] and in the 1860 Census in Baker Co., GA in the household of H.H. Hall.  The book “History of Baker Co.” lists Lucy & Henry Holcomb Hall as siblings. George is not listed in the book.  I think he may be a nephew or cousin of these Halls, but have no proof yet.  I've looked at microfilm of Baker Co. estate records and haven't found anything.

 Elia and Robert Hall, Oct. 1946, Sulphur, La.  Grandpa, I think, is looking smugly at me from this photo, chomping on his cigar and thinking, "You'll never find me!"  Just you wait, Grandpa, just you wait!

Interestingly, my parents visited Newton, GA, on vacation once and someone told Dad he looked like the Halls who owned a local grocery.  Why they didn't run right over there and question them immediately, I don't know!  But they didn't, and struck out in local records.

George and Georgia do not seem to have had property.  Perhaps there are poor house records.  

And our DNA is loosely grouped with other Halls whose ancestors were mostly from Virginia.  Should I start over there?  There are no George & Georgias there in 1880, though maybe one of them is there and widowed or remarried with a son Robert age 2 or 3.

As far as Robert, I've scoured city directories, but need to scour more.  There are few Robert B. Halls, but many Robert Halls to rule out, perhaps by following them in census records.  With many Southern states and counties he could have married in (see last week's post for his previous wives Carrie or Corrie Williams and Jessie), I'm not sure where to start again.  I've already chased down and ruled out a couple of other possible wives.  I think I've ruled out the only real Spanish-American War record lead I had.  Sigh.

I need to pull back, examine what I've already done, re-focus, and make a to-do list.  How do you eat an elephant?  One bite at a time.

If you've heard of any of these families or have research ideas for me, leave a comment or drop me a line at hallroots (at) sbcglobal (dot) net.

Copyright 2010 by Liz Hall Morgan

Treasure Chest Thursday: A card-carrying naval aviator

Note: "Treasure Chest Thursday" is a theme used by some genealogy bloggers.  It's sort of a fun weekly "Show and Tell" for grownups.  You can read more "TCT" posts at Geneabloggers.

 

Naval Aviator card for George C. Hall (my dad), issued by the Dept. of the Navy, 23 June 1944. Scanned original, Feb. 2010, owned by the Hall family, La.

 

Page from flight log of George C. Hall, dated 23 June 1944 (the day the above card was issued), detailing flight time to date.  Owned by the Hall family, La.  Digital photo by Liz Hall Morgan, Feb. 2010.

George C. Hall, c. 1944. Photo privately held by Liz Hall Morgan.

Dad originally trained on dive bombers, but switched to fighter planes when he heard more fighter pilots were needed in the Pacific. He flew an F6F Hellcat from the aircraft carrier USS Hancock in 1945 and relished telling tales of his flying days for the rest of his life.  While war was serious business, it was also a very exciting time for a kid in his early 20s from a small town in Louisiana.