Fearless Females: Day #3

Do you share a first name with one of your female ancestors? Perhaps you were named for your great-grandmother, or your name follows a particular naming pattern. If not, then list the most unique or unusual female first name you’ve come across in your family tree.

I wasn't named for anyone in my family history, but I do have a unique story about how I got my name. I was the sixth of my paternal grandparent's grandchildren. When my mother was pregnant with me, my paternal grandmother Joan, wanted me to be a brown haired, blue eyed baby. All her other grandchildren had blonde hair, but not brown. Grandma wanted a grandbaby with brown hair like her. Well, at 9:47 a.m. on December 14, 1966, I was born with brown hair and blue eyes. My grandmother insisted that I be named Polly Anna after the little girl who was always happy. As my parents discussed this privately, they decided that they just could NOT name me that, so they compromised and named me Paula Ann. To the day she died, she did not know that my legal name was not Polly Anna.

We have two other funny naming stories in our family. The first is with my maternal grandmother. When she was trying to get her birth certificate so that she could get a driver's license, she could not find anything. She had always been told that her birth name was Frankie Earliene Fogle, but she was not able to find a birth record in Wichita Falls for Frankie Fogle. Finally, the vital records people called her and asked if there was a chance that she was named Francis Earliene Fogle because they had a Francis Earliene Fogle in the register with the same birthdate and parents as my grandmother. She determined that she was that Francis Fogle and that whoever took the information took pity on her and named her Francis. When she called to tell my great grandma, all Mama Fogle could say is, "Well, I don't believe it."

The last of the funny naming stories comes with my mother's birth. My grandmother gave birth to my mom in Murfreesboro, Arkansas. She was only 17 when my mom was born and was going through a divorce from my grandfather. When my mom was born, she wanted to name my mother Vicki Jeanette Mason, but my great grandmother wanted to name her Janet Carol Fogle. When my mom was trying to get her birth certificate information - the state of Arkansas had no record of either of the names and my mom was confused as to what her actual birth name was because my great grandmother swore that she informed the state that my mom was born, but we have no idea what name she registered my mom's birth with.

Fearless Females: Day #2

Post a photo of one of your female ancestors. Who is in the photo? When was it taken? Why did you select this photo?



I love this photo because it contains three of my direct line ancestors. The lady on the front row is Mirrietta Walker Wooten, my great great great grandmother. The lady sitting beside her is her mother, my 4th great grandmother, Martha Luticia Portis Walker and the young lady standing between the old man and the woman with the baby on her lap is my great grandmother Gladys Ruth Wooten Graham.

We believe this photo was taken circa 1910-12. My great grandmother was born in 1900 and she looks to be between 10 and 12 in this photo. I love this photo because it shows a line of my family that I have worked very hard on. It really brings faces to the names that I've researched for so long. I chose this photo because it represents three of my direct line ancestors and I just love it.


In other news, it's been two weeks since I last spoke about the show Who Do you Think You Are? and we've seen the journeys of Rosie O'Donnell and Kim Cattrall. At first, I didn't really care to see Rosie O'Donnell's episode. She's too far left for me, but since the show is about genealogy, I decided to watch it. It was very neat because it focused on her Irish ancestors who were affected by the potato famine. I have ancestors that were also affected by that, and it really brought home to me what my ancestors may have gone through. She was also united with distant relatives that she didn't know she had, which was very cool. I enjoyed that episode very much.

Then Kim Cattrall's episode was last Friday. Wow! That's all I can say. She had a grandfather that left her grandmother and his three daughters and never contacted them again. It was sad to find Kim Cattrall finding out that her grandfather was really a jerk. I really was affected by this because my grandfather supposedly left my grandmother and mother as well. Only to find out years later that he never left her that it was actually my grandmother who did the leaving, which made huge impacts on my mom her whole life. At the end of the show, Kim decided not to contact her grandfather's four children, but her mother and two sisters did. That made me feel so good. Perhaps I should contact my mother's two surviving half brothers and meet them.

This week is Lionel Richie and that one looks like it's going to be good. I also found out that there will be a third season of this show. I am so happy because I really love it.

Anyway, I hope you all have a great day! Now that I'm feeling alive again, I need to scrap what I didn't get done last week and add this week on top of it.

Fearless Females: Day #1

Once again, in honor of National Women’s History Month, Lisa Alzo of The Accidental Genealogist blog presents Fearless Females: 31 Blogging Prompts to Celebrate Women’s History Month.

Here's the March 1 prompt: Do you have a favorite female ancestor? One you are drawn to or want to learn more about? Write down some key facts you have already learned or what you would like to learn and outline your goals and potential sources you plan to check.

I do have a favorite female ancestor, and I know quite a bit about her. She was my paternal great grandmother and her name was Ellen Jane Folden Ausmus. Nellie, as she was known, was born 4 March 1881 in Strang, Fillmore, Nebraska to parents Charles William Folden and Alice Amelia Kirwin Folden. She married John Calvin Ausmus on 2 March 1902 in Strang, Fillmore, Nebraska. She and John were the parents of four children - Ethel Alberta Claudia Ausmus, John Donald Ausmus, Ruth Ausmus (died at three days old), and Charles Clair Ausmus (my grandfather).

Nellie was only 11 years old when her mother passed away. She lived with her mother's brother and worked for him on his farm. Nellie married John Calvin Ausmus and had her first child Ethel in Nebraska. John and his two brothers wanted a better life for their families, so they immigrated to Saskatchewan, Canada. Nellie came with her daughter and sister-in-law a few months later. Nellie had her last three children in Saskatchewan. They lived there for 11 years and decided that the winters were just too harsh for them. They moved to Los Angeles, California.

Nellie was a wonderful mother and devoted grandmother. She lost her beloved John in April 1940 and devoted the rest of her life to her children and grandchildren. In December of 1952, Nellie was diagnosed with stomach cancer. She was only given a few weeks to live. But, determined not to ruin Christmas for her children and eight grandchildren, she hung on and spent her last Christmas with her family. Nellie lost her battle with stomach cancer on 4 January 1953 in Torrance, Los Angeles, California. Nellie was cremated and her ashes scattered in Palo Verde, California.

I have always felt a deep connection to this lady. I can't explain it, but I have often felt her presence in my life. I know it sounds strange to feel this presence when I've never even met the lady, but her presence is strong in my life and in me. I love her and look forward to the day that I can meet her.

The Hunger Games trilogy

One of my goals for this year was to do more reading. I made a goal to read one new book a month. Well, as of today 2/20/11, I have read six books. I normally don't get into science fiction books, but when I started seeing and hearing things about The Hunger Games trilogy by Suzanne Collins, I decided to add them to my list. I have read all three of them. They were very good!!

The story is about a 17 year old girl named Katniss Everdeen who lives in a post-apocolyptic world called Panem. Panem consists of 12 districts, and each year, they have a boy and a girl ages 12-18 chosen to go to the hunger games. The hunger games aren't any typical games, they are games of survival, meaning that the last one standing is the winner. Katniss volunteers to go to the hunger games in place of her 12 year old sister. I don't want to ruin it for those that haven't read it, but it's full of suspense and different twists and turns. I thoroughly enjoyed this trilogy and couldn't put it down.

The other books that I've read are Jodi Picoult's Plain Truth and the first four books of A Series of Unfortunate Events by Lemony Snicket. These books are SO much better than the movie. I have been enjoying them a lot and they are quick reads.

The next three books that I am working on are: Stieg Larsson's The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, The Weird Sisters by Eleanor Brown, and the fifth book in A Series of Unfortunate Events. I like to keep two to three books on my reading list because some days you just don't want to read anything heavy. So, I'm always reading 2-3 books.

Anyway, time to go make dinner. Making pork chops with rosemary and scalloped potatoes.

52 weeks of genealogy: week 7

Week 7: Toys. What was your favorite childhood toy? Is it still being made in some form today?

My favorite childhood toy was Hot Wheels cars. Yes, I know I am a girl, but I really loved playing with Hot Wheels cars. I had a ton of them and played with every single one of them. Then, one fall, my two uncles came to visit. They came every fall to go deer hunting with my dad. My uncle Bob always gave each of us kids $10 to spend on what we wanted. I thought that was the coolest thing! So, when I was six, I got my yearly $10 from my uncle and we went to the local TG&Y store and I bought a Drowsy doll. I totally loved that dolly. She spoke little things and had the cutest little pink and white polka dot pajamas on. I still have that dolly today. I love her.

On another note, has anyone been watching this season's Who do you think you are? I have and have been enjoying it immensely. The first week was Vanessa Williams and I have to admit, I wasn't looking forward to her. I have a friend in the entertainment business and he said that she's a real snot to work with and that she has that attitude that she's better than everyone else. So, going into it with those preconceived notions about her, I wasn't too thrilled about it. But, I have to say, that it was wonderful to see her find so much on her ancestry. She even found a photo of one of her ancestors in his military records in Washington D.C. which is amazing. It was neat to learn about her and her ancestry.

This past week was Tim McGraw and I have to admit, I was totally looking forward to this one! He's one of my favorite country singers, and I thought it would be neat to see his journey and I was NOT disappointed. He chose to research his dad's side, which I can totally understand since he didn't even meet his dad until he was 11. He had some amazing links to some pretty amazing Americans - George Washington (a brother to one of my ancestors) and Elvis Presley. It was also neat to see his link to the Shenandoah Valley in Virginia since I had ancestors that lived there as well at the same time as his. I wonder if they knew each other? It was awesome and I enjoyed it.

This next week is going to be Rosie O'Donnell and I have to admit, I don't really care to see it. But, the genealogist in me can't not watch it. It's just what I do. I love anything related to genealogy, so I'll watch it, but Rosie is too left wing for me. It will be interesting to see her journey though.

52 weeks of personal genealogy: week #6

Week 6: Radio and Television. What was your favorite radio or television show from your childhood? What was the program about and who was in it?

When I was a kid, I loved to listen to the local rock radio station. I would hold up in my room listening to that and read. I loved it. When I did watch tv, we watched shows like Little House on the Prairie, Happy Days, Laverne & Shirley, and CHiPs. We weren't allowed to watch too much tv. Little House was on Mondays; Happy Days and Laverne & Shirley were on Tuesdays; and CHiPs was on Saturdays.

52 weeks of genealogy: week #5

Week 5: Favorite Food. What was your favorite food from childhood? If it was homemade, who made it? What was in this dish, and why was it your favorite? What is your favorite dish now?

When I was a little girl, even to now, my mama would make catfish and hush puppies. I LOVE my mama's catfish. She didn't do anything special with it, but she made it perfectly. Even now when I go home to visit, I beg her to make it. It's comfort food for me.