Where are they in 1920?

I've recently been going back over some of the data in my own families and trying to fill any holes in my research. I'm having a terrible time locating one of my paternal grandmother's sisters (and her family) in the 1920 census.  Let me try to paint a picture this branch of the family.

My grandmother's sister's maiden name was Lera Bell Fowlkes. According to the Virginia Phillips Fowlkes Howell family Bible, she was born 8 Sep 1888 in Monroe County, Mississippi. (I have a photocopy of this record in my possession. The original was last known to be in the hands of a cousin of mine residing in the Hatley area of Monroe County, Mississippi.) The 1890 census was destroyed in the infamous National Archives fire that so many of us wish had not occurred. She was too young to be listed in the surviving 1892 Enumeration of Educable Children in Mississippi which serves as an 1890 census substitute for many of us researching in that state. (It lists the head of household and school-age children, generally ages 6 to 16.)

In 1900, she is enumerated in the household with her mother and stepfather.

Howell, John, head, W, M, Oct 1854, 45, M, MS, MS, MS, farmer
--, Virginia, wife, W, F, Mar 1865, 35, M, 11, 5, MS, MS, MS
--, Pearler, daughter, W, F, May 1886, 14, S, MS, MS, MS
--, Mary L, daughter, W, F, Feb 1889, 11, S, MS, MS, MS
--, Ollie, daughter, W, F, Jan 1894, 6, S, MS, MS, MS
--, Osie, son, W, M, Mar 1896, 4, S, MS, MS, MS
--, Dewey, son, W, M, Jan 1898, 2, S, MS, MS, MS
--, Dee, s-son, W, M, Feb 1887, 15, S, MS, MS, MS
Fowlkes, Lera, s-dau, W, F, Sep 1888, 11, S, MS, MS, MS
--, Norma, s-dau, W, F, Jan 1892, 8, S, MS, MS, MS
--, Jodie, s-dau, W, F, May 1895, 5, S, MS, MS, MS

[1900 U.S. Federal Census, Monroe County, Mississippi, population schedule, Amory, Beat 1, SD --, ED 68, p. 26A (stamped), sheet 26A, John Howell household, dwelling 504, family 505, lines 12-22; digital image, Ancestry.com : 29 Oct 2012; citing NARA microfilm publication T623, roll 822.]

She married Neely Nash on 14 Dec 1908 in Monroe County, Mississippi. [Monroe County, Mississippi Marriages (1821-1921). 4 vols. s.l.: s.n., n.d., vol. 1, p. 175. This index is held at Evans Memorial Library in Aberdeen, Mississippi. If I have a copy of the actual marriage record from the county books in the circuit clerk's office, it is not in my database. I'll check some older paper files, but I'll need to make sure to obtain the better source for this. It's been added to my to-do list.]

At the time of the 1910 census, the family is still residing in Monroe County, Mississippi. They have a young daughter by that time. Evelyn Nesby Nash was born 17 Oct 1909 in Monroe County, Mississippi. There is a bit of a discrepancy in her one month age on the 1910 census and this October birth date.

Nash, Nelley, head, M, W, 22, m1, 2, MS, MS, MS, farmer, gen farm, 182
--, Lera, wife, F, W, 21, m1, 2, 1, 1, MS, MS, MS, farm laborer, home farm
--, Nesby, daughter, F, W, 1/12, S, MS, MS, MS

[1910 U.S. Federal Census, Monroe County, Mississippi, population schedule, Hatley, SD 9, ED 55, p. 40-41 (stamped), sheets 10A/11B (written), Nelley Nash household, dwelling 182, family 182, lines 49-50, 100; digital image, Ancestry.com : 4 Mar 2013; citing NARA microfilm publication T624, roll 752. Note about census: The enumerator made a mistake. He had originally tried to create a line on the same page below line 50 to include Nesby but had crossed this out and had made a note to direct the reader to the remainder of the household.]

I have not found the family in the 1920 census. They could have still been in Mississippi. They could have been in the process of moving to Arkansas. They could have been in Arkansas.

What I do know is that according to the 1930 census, daughter Edith was born about 1918-1919 in Mississippi and son Billie was born about 1922-1923 in Arkansas. [By the way, Billy was said to have been born in Mississippi in the 1940 census.]

Nash, Neeley, head, R, M, W, 42, M, 21, MS, NC, MS, farmer, general farm, 45
--, Ila, wife, F, W, 34, M, 28, MS, MS, MS, none
--, Elihu, son, M, W, 15, S, MS, MS, MS, laborer, farm
--, Joe, son, M, W, 13, S, MS, MS, MS, laborer, farm
--, Edith, daughter, F, W, 11, S, MS, MS, MS, none
--, Billie, son, M, W, 7, S, AR, MS, MS, none

[1930 U.S. Federal Census, Poinsett County, Arkansas, population schedule, Greenwood, SD 3, ED 6, p. 68 (stamped), sheet 3A, Neeley Nash household, dwelling 49, family 49, lines 33-49; digital image, Ancestry.com : 4 Mar 2013; citing NARA microfilm publication T626, roll 88.]

You may have noticed that Lera is no longer in the 1930 census. She died in 1923, presumably in Arkansas, although it is possible that the family had made its way back to Mississippi. She is buried at Hatley Cemetery, Hatley, Monroe County, Mississippi. I have visited the grave which simply reads "Lera Bell Nash" and gives her birth date as 1888 and death date as 1923. This is also the reading that was rendered by a volunteer who transcribed the marker for Find-A-Grave (memorial number 66169047). There is one slight variation in the family. It's a more specific date, but it was possibly mistranscribed by a person who has been known to mistranscribe a lot of things. That date is 11 Jan 1928. I suspect that the actual date of death is 11 Jan 1923, and that this person wrote the 3 as an 8.

I'll include the 1940 census for the record.

Nash, Neely, head, M, W, 52, M (crossed out), no, 4, MS, same place, farmer, farming, OA, 70
--, Eda (x), daughter, F, W, 20, S, no, 6, MS, same place
--, Billie, son, M, W, 17, S, no, 4, MS, same place

[1940 U.S. Federal Census, Poinsett County, Arkansas, population schedule, Lunsford, SD 9, ED 56-12B, p. 277 (stamped), sheet 5B (written), Neely Nash household, visit 82, lines 63-65; digital image, Ancestry.com : 27 Apr 2013; citing NARA microfilm publication T627, roll 162.]

The children of Lera and her husband Neely should be:

1. Evelyn Nesby Nash (b. 17 Oct 1909; d. 5 Mar 2000)
2. Emma Lee Nash (b. 17 Jun 1912) - name/date comes only from family information; probably died young
3. Ellie Hue Nash (b. 8 Jul 1914; d. 30 May 1970 )  - Tombstone gives birth year of 1913; SSDI gives 1914.
4. Josier "Joe" Nash (b. abt 1917)
5. Sada Odena Nash (Edith?, Eda?, Omie?) (b. 26 Jan 1920)
6. Billy Shaddon Nash (b. 31 Dec 1922; d. 29 Jun 1989)

I also have Neely's draft registrations for both World Wars, but I'm not including them here. I will say that Neely did say that he had a wife and three children on the World War I registration card in 1917 and that Omie is listed as the contact person on the World War II one in 1942.

So - where is this family in the 1920 census? I'm stumped. I'm beginning to think they were missed.

A Murder at Rosamund's Gate by Susanna Calkins

Calkins, Susanna. A Murder at Rosamund's Gate. New York: Minotaur Books, 2013.

When the body of a servant girl in a magistrate's household turns up dead, suspicion falls to the brother of Lucy, a servant girl in the household. He had been dating the murdered servant. The magistrate's son Adam is also briefly suspected because of an accusation. It's one of a series of similar murders. Lucy decides she must try to prove her brother's innocence before he hangs. She finds an ally in Adam. The Black Death and London Fire occur during the course of the novel. While the author does take some liberties with the historical details, she does provide a note specifying those that she has taken. I found this to be well-plotted and highly engaging. The solution was not entirely obvious, but it was a logical one.  Some of the red herrings were rather convincing. This appears to be the first in the series, and I will definitely be looking for future installments. The review is based on an advance e-galley provided by the publisher through NetGalley. (4.5 stars)

Cast-Iron Cooking with Sisters on the Fly

Rawlings, Irene. Cast-Iron Cooking with Sisters on the Fly. Photographs by David Foxhoven. Kansas City, MO: Andrews McMeel, 2013.

The photograph of the retro RV on the front cover drew me to this book. My family went camping and RVing from the time I was young until my parents were no longer able to travel. There's nothing quite like a cast iron skillet for cooking, so that was a draw as well. The recipes included are not difficult to prepare, and most of them would work well while traveling by RV. The photography and layout for the book was excellent. Before reading this book, I had never heard of the Sisters on the Fly organization, but it sounds like a fun group. I'm a bit surprised, given their enjoyment of fishing, that there are not more fish recipes in the collection, but it seems to be fairly diverse as far as meat choices for main courses. I will probably be purchasing a copy of this title for my own cookbook collection. This review is based on an advance electronic galley provided by the publisher through NetGalley.

NERGC Wrap-Up with Saturday's Activities

I somehow did not manage to find time to blog yesterday. It was our final day of NERGC (New England Regional Genealogical Conference, for those who may be wondering what those letters have stood for the last few days).

My day started with consulting at the Ancestors Road Show. I met with a couple of people although one of my appointments was a no-show. We had a nice time discussing their genealogical brick walls and coming up with some avenues by which they might be able to break through them.

After I finished up with that, I managed to check out of the hotel and store my luggage in my roommate's car's trunk. I then had time to actually browse the exhibit hall myself before heading to grab a bite for lunch. I was able to pick up three more titles in the NGS Research in the States series. I'm trying to obtain them all. I think I've managed to purchase all but a couple now. I probably would have picked up a fourth, but Maia's books was sold out of them. I try to limit myself to buying them at conferences so I control my spending! Fortunately they are thin enough that they fitted very nicely into my carry-on bags and did not require me to ship them via the UPS store.

After I ate lunch, I worked the NGS booth for awhile. Booth traffic was much quieter on Saturday than on the previous days. At 1:30, we drew for the door prize. I did not manage to draw the name of any of my friends.

I went to Alice Kane's talk on Chinese genealogy. This is a topic about which I knew very little. I've read one book on Chinese American genealogy in a series for young adults. I own a couple of books on Mississippi's Chinese population (in the Delta region of the state). However, this was an interesting session which focused on the reasons they came to the U.S., the concern of the U.S. that they would take away jobs from Americans (even back in the 1800s), the exclusion acts, and much more. She showed examples of the records created as part of the exclusion acts. Very interesting! I'm not quite ready to read the Chinese characters, but I think I could try my luck at some of the American records for the group.

After this, I went back to the NGS booth to help with packing up and tearing down the display. Then I headed to the final session. I'd originally planned to attend a different session but was not exactly impressed by the syllabus so I decided to hear the "stand-in." Michael LeClerc was doing Thomas MacEntee's presentation on Google. I've probably already used the only parts of Google that I'm actually interested in using. Like many people, I used Google Reader and am a bit put out with Google for deciding to do away with it.

After the last session, my roommate and I headed over to the Homewood Suites near the airport. We are the first to stay in a brand new room there as part of their remodel. It was quite nice. We located the nearby restaurants so we could catch a bite to eat and even found an L. L. Bean Outlet store. I wanted to go in so that I could try on some pants for sizing purposes. I'd recently received a catalog from them and decided to order some pants. My problem is that size usually depends on how the pants are cut and made. I'm happy that I can wear the smaller size! I didn't buy any there. I didn't want to take a chance on overfilling my suitcase. I did not want to pay for a checked bag.

I'd better log off, go print my boarding pass, and catch the shuttle to the airport now! I'm praying all my flights are on time and that there are no traffic situations or other issues between Charlotte and home. I need to be at church by 6 p.m. since I'm on the praise team for the first song in our choir's night of worship and praise tonight. You can catch that live at http://www.fbcmtn.com/ at 6 p.m. Eastern, or  you can watch an archived copy later at the site.

NERGC Friday Night

I had supper, dinner, or whatever you want to call the evening meal with Marian Pierre-Louis and others tonight. We ate at a nearby restaurant since many of us were going to head to one of the special interest groups afterwards.

Since I wanted to meet some of my New England blogging friends, I attended the Geneabloggers SIG. There was a lively discussion about blogging topics. There were also a couple of persons who were interested in starting their own genealogy blogs. It's really a shame that all the SIGs were held simultaneously because there were several others I would have loved to attend.

Here are a few photos taken today.

Maia's Books was busy!

Inside the Bloggers Area around noon.

Geneabloggers SIG

More in the Geneabloggers SIG

Friday Afternoon NERGC Report

My presentation is now over, so I can relax. I do think I managed to leave my reading glasses on either the podium or the table in the room so I'll have to go try to track those down in a bit. I'm accustomed to an LCD support package (which I listed as an AV need) including a cable that will run from the table that will hold the LCD projector to the podium and having electrical connections at the podium so one can connect the computer to an electrical source there. The room did not have that type of a set up. I was either going to have to sit down, stand and block the screen, or get someone else to punch the buttons. I'm used to having my computer right in front of my face with the screen that I'm discussing. I had to read off the same screen the audience was viewing and have someone else punch the buttons. It added just enough time to the presentation that I felt rushed.  I hope attendees picked up a few sources for adding richness to their ancestors' lives.

I attended Steve Morse's autosomal DNA presentation before my session. It wasn't quite what I'd expected, but it was a good explanation of how autosomal DNA works. The illustrations just didn't show results from the DNA testing companies.

I was too tired to go to a presentation during the last session. I decided to come up to my room, grab a Diet Dr. Pepper, and "chill" for a few minutes.

Friday Morning at NERGC

This morning I awakened very early and couldn't get back to sleep so I got up. I checked into Facebook and discovered all the breaking news and lockdowns in the Boston area. That was on a lot of people's minds as they made their way to the first session of the morning.

I chose to attend a session about Loyalists during the first time slot. The speaker had a lot of great content and definitely knew his topic. It was heavily focused on the loyalists who settled in New Brunswick. Since mine were in Nova Scotia, it wasn't quite as useful as it might have been, but the question and answer period did produce questions from other participants regarding Nova Scotia loyalists.

I attended Colleen Fitzpatrick's presentation on Abraham Lincoln's DNA during the second session. It was quite fascinating and is a study that is in progress. It will be wonderful to keep up with this research as it continues over the coming months and years.

I'm enjoying visiting with everyone here in the blogging area at the moment. I'll be heading to the NGS booth shortly.  I'll try to take a few photos to post later.

NERGC Thursday Night

The fun continues in Manchester.

Tonight many societies participated in society night from 5 to 7 p.m. I was able to meet several other people and ran into my very distant cousin Polly also.

I helped out at the National Genealogical Society's booth tonight during the exhibit hall opening. Many more genealogists that I met through Facebook came around to pick up a member ribbon, and we were able to meet!  It's such great fun to meet in person.

I ran into several more people that I knew in hallways or in the exhibit hall while we were waiting for it to officially open.

I speak tomorrow so I've been doing a couple of last minute tweaks to my presentation tonight. I thought of a picture that I needed to add in one case, and I thought of a better way to demo something in another. I have it saved on my computer, my flash drive, and in DropBox.

I'm going to read a bit tonight before going to bed. I'm pretty tired so I will probably not stay up very late.

Thursday Afternoon - NERGC

Since the exhibits don't open until tonight, I attended lectures during all three time slots for the afternoon.

The first session I attended was Laura Prescott's talk entitled "Spinsters and Widows: Gender Loyalty Within Families." I loved her content. I plan to make sure that I check out the article she mentioned from the Jan/Apr 1986 TAG issue that defined spinsters. Some great insights! I also loved the fact that she encouraged people to sign up for LibraryThing to keep track of their genealogical libraries--something I've been championing for awhile.

During the second afternoon session, I went to hear Lisa Alzo on "Grandmothers, Mothers and Daughters: Researching Your Female Lines." I expect that her comments were quite useful to a lot of beginning researchers. She encouraged people to write their family stories.

There were several presentations I wanted to hear during the third time slot. I decided to go hear Warren Bittner because his presentation at last year's NGS Conference was one of the best I attended all week. He lived up to that expectation with his presentation on "Complex Evidence: What It Is? How It Works? Why It Matters?" He approached it with a case study from his own family that resided in New York City.

I'm munching on a sandwich right now and will be heading down to the society fair in a bit and then to work the NGS booth when the exhibit hall opens.

NERGC - Thursday Morning

Since the opening session did not begin until 10 a.m., I decided to take a walk to the grocery store to pick up some things that would provide quick meals for lunch and supper today since I will have less than an hour to eat both times. I had noticed a Market Basket only a few blocks from the Radisson as I was riding the shuttle from the airport yesterday. It's a very nice grocery store, and they have quite a few pre-made sandwiches available as well as fruits and bakery goods.

When I got back to the hotel, I had time to meet a few Facebook and blogging friends in the hotel lobby that I only knew by their photos. It was great to finally meet Heather, Marian, Sue, and several others.

The speaker for the main session was Sandy Clunies. She told about the mills in nearby Lowell and Lawrence, Massachusetts and told the stories of some of families who worked there -- two were her own ancestors; another was a friend's ancestor that she had researched.

We are currently on a very short lunch break since the first session begins at 12:15. I'm really not sure why they didn't give us a bit longer of a break since it's hard for 900 people to be served lunch in such a short time. I'm just thankful that I went to the grocery store this morning so that I would not have to deal with long lunch lines and could escape to the room for a few minutes.  It also gives me an opportunity to see if I need to update anything on my presentation before tomorrow. You know all those thoughts you have--Did I include this resource? Did I update that image after the site changed appearance? Etc.

Brush with Death by Karen MacInerney

MacInerney, Karen. Brush with Death. New York: Midnight Ink, 2013.

Release Date: 8 May 2013

Review: It is always a joy to visit with Natalie Barnes at the Gray Whale Inn and the various persons who inhabit Cranberry Island off the coast of Maine. In this installment, Natalie's niece Gwen is about to get her first exhibition. The gallery owner wants her to work in oils instead of the watercolors in which she excels. A renowned New York artist is visiting the island with her manager. Gwen's mentor turns up dead. At first glance it appears to be suicide, but Gwen and others are convinced that it is murder. Evidence is found which causes the police to reopen the case. There are several suspects with varying motives. The solution is not difficult to figure out for experienced mystery readers, but it is a very pleasant visit with likeable characters for readers. It's a great vacation read or book to read when needing a break from books with heavier themes. This review is based on an advance electronic galley provided by the publisher through NetGalley with the expectation that a review would be written.

Cooking with Herbs

Alley, Lynn. Cooking with Herbs: 50 Simple Recipes for Fresh Flavor. Photography by Dhanraj Emanuel. Kansas City, MO: Andrews McMeel, 2013.

I love using fresh herbs in my dishes, and Lynn Alley has written a cookbook that provides tips for growing and using herbs as well as recipes utilizing them. Perhaps the most valuable part of the book is the portion dealing with growing and caring for your herbs. She covers everything from soils to growing them in containers. The recipes include soups, salads, main dishes, breads, condiments, and desserts. She also includes a couple of pages on using herbs in making tea. While a few of the dishes are pictured, it is a minority. The book could have used more individually labeled photos of herbs for those new to herbs who may not be familiar with what each looks like. The dishes did not seem to cover a wide range of foods. For example, most of the soups were bean-based. There also seemed to be a large number of pasta or polenta based main dishes. I find that is relatively easy for most people to incorporate fresh herbs in those dishes with little or no assistance of a cookbook or recipe. This book is probably most useful to those who have little or no experience with incorporating fresh herbs in their cooking. This review is based on an advance electronic galley provided by the publisher through NetGalley.

Sorry I Barfed on Your Bed

Greenberg, Jeremy. Sorry I Barfed on Your Bed (And Other Heartwarming Letters from Kitty). Kansas City, MO: Andrews McMeel, 2013.

Greenberg has written a cute collection of letters with accompanying cat photographs written from the cats to humans. The name and age of each cat is posted along with the photo. It's an entertaining and humorous look at cat habits from their perspective that cat lovers will enjoy. This review is based on an advance electronic galley provided by the publisher through NetGalley.