Archive | 22 April 2008

Desperately seeking Susan

Apr22

Susan William Lee Martin Kennedy, that is. I have spent the afternoon browsing the 1860 Federal Census for Sumter County, Alabama, which I believe is where the James H Martin family was living at the time Susan and Dr Nathan B Kennedy met, and later where they married in 1862. Before a couple of months ago, this task was virtually impossible. Then came DSL…aaah, modern technology!

Anyway, I have gone through all of Gainesville (7 images), all of the Northern Division (40 images), all of Township 22 Range 2 West (only 4 images) and 60 of 103 images of the Southern Dvision.

And now, before my eyes pop out of my head, I’m going to get away from this computer for a bit and… clean my desk. I bought a new, very-much-needed bookcase today, so it’s time to dig out my desk!

Finishing up with Mrs. Kennedy

Apr22

I did a bit more research on my 3rd great-grandmother Susan William Lee (Martin) Kennedy. Now that’s a mouthful! I was rechecking GenealogyBank, to check the dates on a couple of mentions, and I found a new interest of Mrs. Kennedy’s: she was the president of the Old Ladies Home Society of Texas, based in Houston. This organization was established in the early 1900′s to help elderly women who were low-income or indigent.

This from the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, dated 25 May 1904:

I may have figured out why I can’t find her in the 1900 or 1910 censuses. She was traveling all over Texas raising money for the Old Ladies Home! I found articles about Mrs. Kennedy and the Old Ladies Home in the Dallas Morning News, the Fort Worth Star-Telegram and the San Antonio Daily Messenger. Places mentioned (besides the homes of the various newspapers) include Corsicana, Mineral Wells, Austin, Denton and Houston. In fact, the more that I research into her life, I see it may be time for a timeline!

Did I mention what a wonderful resource GenealogyBank is?

I have also added a To-do page to this site, to remind me of documents or images I need, plans for research trips, etc.