This whole week feels like mayhem to me so I'm going to forgo the tale of one of my misbehaving ancestors and share a little of what is creating my mayhem.
Mainly it's my volunteer work with the local genealogical society (Fairfax Genealogical Society). We have just completed our annual Spring Conference. This was the first year we held it over two days and it went quite well. We're a bit behind on our speaker selections for next year and we need to nail all of the details down so we can advertise. This weekend several members are attending the MAGS Conference and we're hoping they can take some flyers about next year's programs but we have to get them done first!
Next week is the annual Genealogy Fair at the National Archives in D.C. We'll have a table there with assorted information about our programs next year. If you're in the D.C. area, this is a free event. This is the first year they're holding it over two days.
Hopefully everyone already knows about the NGS Conference in the States coming up in May in Raleigh, NC. My husband and I are both really looking forward to this. We always enjoy the national conferences but we lived in Raleigh prior to moving here and are looking forward to the chance to see some friends we haven't seen in four years!
Preparing materials for all these events always keeps me busy this time of year. Unfortunately I'm just a little farther behind than in the past.
Showing posts with label Mid-week Mayhem. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Mid-week Mayhem. Show all posts
Wednesday, April 15, 2009
Wednesday, April 1, 2009
Hicks K. Patterson Mayhem
I'll begin my first official "Mid-week Mayhem" post with the first mayhem I learned about in my family.
My great-aunt (who I've mentioned in several other posts) told me this story shortly after I began resarching my Patterson ancestors. She said her uncle Hicks (not to be confused with our great [great...] grandfather Hicks) killed his brother over a moonshine still. I didn't particularly do anything with this information and never came across any further information. My great-great aunt made some passing comment about it one time when I mentioned it to her but nothing memorable.
At some point I learned my 3rd great-uncle Asa was convicted of murder (more details on that in another post). One document indicated he had killed his brother so it seemed the story I was told by my aunts was a generation off (the uncle Hicks of my aunts' story was the nephew of Asa).
Low and behold, in 2006 I randomly received an e-mail with the image of a newspaper clipping in it. The sender had been told it was probably from the 1880s, about the time of Asa's problems. When I started looking into the Pattersons mentioned it became clear the clipping was much newer. Just to be sure I even verified the years of service of the Pickens Co., GA Sheriff mentioned. Because the clipping is so new I won't post the image here but here's a summary of what happened (according to the newspaper at least)...
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In late February 1948 Hicks Patterson "slashed" the throat of his brother Edward over the price of a fighting cock. Edward was found lying next to the road alive. He refused to name his assailaint saying he knew who did it but wouldn't say. He survived a few more hours after making this statement.
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There are a few points that are definitely incorrect in this articles. The article states Hicks was 70 and Edward 80, these ages are backwards. Hicks was the older, b. 1867, and Edward was ten years younger. My initial response is to believe the newspaper is at least partially hyping the story since a 70 year old man has his throat "slashed," lies next to the road bleeding, is found and makes a statement, and after several hours finally dies.
Since I only learned in 2006 that the players in this drama were actually those mentioned by my great-aunt, and due to the recent date of the events (i.e. the records aren't microfilmed and accessible in many locations), I haven't been able to pursue this story as much as I would like. I don't know what happened to Hicks K. with regards to this crime. He died in 1950. My great-aunt remembers visiting him. She says he was an old man with a long white beard and he was propped up in a big four poster bed. From this description I'm pretty sure he wasn't in prison. I'm not positive but my great-aunt may have said these visits were at Hicks's home.
My great-aunt (who I've mentioned in several other posts) told me this story shortly after I began resarching my Patterson ancestors. She said her uncle Hicks (not to be confused with our great [great...] grandfather Hicks) killed his brother over a moonshine still. I didn't particularly do anything with this information and never came across any further information. My great-great aunt made some passing comment about it one time when I mentioned it to her but nothing memorable.
At some point I learned my 3rd great-uncle Asa was convicted of murder (more details on that in another post). One document indicated he had killed his brother so it seemed the story I was told by my aunts was a generation off (the uncle Hicks of my aunts' story was the nephew of Asa).
Low and behold, in 2006 I randomly received an e-mail with the image of a newspaper clipping in it. The sender had been told it was probably from the 1880s, about the time of Asa's problems. When I started looking into the Pattersons mentioned it became clear the clipping was much newer. Just to be sure I even verified the years of service of the Pickens Co., GA Sheriff mentioned. Because the clipping is so new I won't post the image here but here's a summary of what happened (according to the newspaper at least)...
------------
In late February 1948 Hicks Patterson "slashed" the throat of his brother Edward over the price of a fighting cock. Edward was found lying next to the road alive. He refused to name his assailaint saying he knew who did it but wouldn't say. He survived a few more hours after making this statement.
------------
There are a few points that are definitely incorrect in this articles. The article states Hicks was 70 and Edward 80, these ages are backwards. Hicks was the older, b. 1867, and Edward was ten years younger. My initial response is to believe the newspaper is at least partially hyping the story since a 70 year old man has his throat "slashed," lies next to the road bleeding, is found and makes a statement, and after several hours finally dies.
Since I only learned in 2006 that the players in this drama were actually those mentioned by my great-aunt, and due to the recent date of the events (i.e. the records aren't microfilmed and accessible in many locations), I haven't been able to pursue this story as much as I would like. I don't know what happened to Hicks K. with regards to this crime. He died in 1950. My great-aunt remembers visiting him. She says he was an old man with a long white beard and he was propped up in a big four poster bed. From this description I'm pretty sure he wasn't in prison. I'm not positive but my great-aunt may have said these visits were at Hicks's home.
Wednesday, March 18, 2009
Mid-week Mayhem
I've decided to make up my own theme for Wednesdays. I have a lot of criminals and victims of crimes in my family so Wednesday is now "Mid-week Mayhem."
This week I'll just tell you a little about why you want murders, horse thieves, moonshiners, and other miscreants in your family.
For years I just went along doing genealogy like many people do, collecting dates and places. But I was always wondering "why" and "what." Why did my Pattersons (from GA) serve in the Union army? What were my ancestors really like (this usually followed a why I couldn't understand)? As all good genealogists should, I began researching these questions.
Eventually I had to step my genealogy research up a level and break into less used sources. That's when I started to find the "good stuff." Mostly crimes my relatives committed but occasionally crimes committed against them. I got started in genealogy because no one could give me good answers about my family. Not surprisingly, that meant we didn't have many stories. Since I wasn't starting with family stories that means I started with documented information (albeit not always the best documentation). For crimes this usually means there's more documentation out there because they obviously got caught since I knew about it. I soon learned to check very dry court records for my family (in one case this connected three siblings I could not document elsewhere). Online newspaper records are fantastic for locating relatives in trouble with the law as well. When I'm trying to locate my family farther back in a new location, I can usually check court records to see if they appear. Tax records or census records often aren't available when I need them but court records often are.
All those relatives involved in 'mayhem' have provided a great stories but also a great research methodology. Along with using genealogy sources I also try and research the history that goes along with all these stories. From that I've learned that my family isn't that different from their neighbors. If I can't locate a relative it's much more likely they are living in the least developed part of the state (assuming the land's cheap), not in a city. When I'm reading those dry court records it's pretty likely my relatives are involved with other residents whose names keep coming up over and over again for moonshining or hog stealing. Yet more places to look for new information!
I've never been under the delusion that I would find rich and powerful men in my family so finding criminals wasn't a shock. If you are always on the look-out for relatives that rose to the top of society, maybe you should consider looking for common criminals instead. They can leave great records and the stories aren't too bad, either.
This week I'll just tell you a little about why you want murders, horse thieves, moonshiners, and other miscreants in your family.
For years I just went along doing genealogy like many people do, collecting dates and places. But I was always wondering "why" and "what." Why did my Pattersons (from GA) serve in the Union army? What were my ancestors really like (this usually followed a why I couldn't understand)? As all good genealogists should, I began researching these questions.
Eventually I had to step my genealogy research up a level and break into less used sources. That's when I started to find the "good stuff." Mostly crimes my relatives committed but occasionally crimes committed against them. I got started in genealogy because no one could give me good answers about my family. Not surprisingly, that meant we didn't have many stories. Since I wasn't starting with family stories that means I started with documented information (albeit not always the best documentation). For crimes this usually means there's more documentation out there because they obviously got caught since I knew about it. I soon learned to check very dry court records for my family (in one case this connected three siblings I could not document elsewhere). Online newspaper records are fantastic for locating relatives in trouble with the law as well. When I'm trying to locate my family farther back in a new location, I can usually check court records to see if they appear. Tax records or census records often aren't available when I need them but court records often are.
All those relatives involved in 'mayhem' have provided a great stories but also a great research methodology. Along with using genealogy sources I also try and research the history that goes along with all these stories. From that I've learned that my family isn't that different from their neighbors. If I can't locate a relative it's much more likely they are living in the least developed part of the state (assuming the land's cheap), not in a city. When I'm reading those dry court records it's pretty likely my relatives are involved with other residents whose names keep coming up over and over again for moonshining or hog stealing. Yet more places to look for new information!
I've never been under the delusion that I would find rich and powerful men in my family so finding criminals wasn't a shock. If you are always on the look-out for relatives that rose to the top of society, maybe you should consider looking for common criminals instead. They can leave great records and the stories aren't too bad, either.
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