Got Them All!!!

Just a follow up on my previous post about the list of brothers and sisters that Louella Jo McGuire was kind enough to write down.  The letter lists 14 kids in all.  It just so happens that the 1910 census asks two question of all females; "Mother of how many children born" and "Number still living".  She answered that she gave birth to 14 children and that 10 were still living.  So we got them all.  And that makes my list even more important since there is at least one child, Sarah Elizabeth McGuire who was born and died between the taking of two censuses and who also lived in a time when there were not well kept birth/death records in Arkansas.  So without this list, I don't think there would have been any other way of knowing who this daughter was. 

So thank you Grandma Josie for your letter.

p.s. I have managed to find records for all thirteen other children of James Monroe and Martha Ann McGurie, so if anyone knows anything about Sarah Elizabether, please let me know.

What Every Genealogist Hopes To Find

Many years ago I asked my Grandma if she had any information to help me in my family history research.  She gave me a letter that she says was written by Lou Ella Jo McGuire (b. 26 Sep 1881 d. 24 Sep 1967).  Its not exactly a letter, it's a couple of pieces of notepad paper where she listed a bunch of names and dates from people in her family.  And since she had 13 brothers and sisters, finding that list of names made my job a lot easier.  Its a full page, with some more notes on the back and then another half page.  Not all of the information has been 100% accurate (and not all of it makes sense), but it has been pretty close most of the time and very helpful regardless. If you are somehow related, feel free to save a copy of the letter if you find it useful in your research. I only ask that you contact me and let me know so that we share and further our research.

Here is my transcription so that search engines can try to find it:

Page 1
Father & Mother
James Monroe McGuire
Mother
Martha Ann Johnson = [ McGuire
Names & Birth of Children
1st. A Son. William Abner
2. A girl Daisy Bertrice
3 Juanita Mary Elizabeth
4 Melvina Jourdina
5 Lou Ella Joe.
6 Martha Ellen
7 James Thomas.
8 Amber Alvina
9 Sarah Elizabeth
10. Twins Macka Thea
11 & Alice May
12 Noah Edward
13 Ira Oliver
14 was Borned Dead. was not named
& only 4 are living & we are all girls.
Bertie Joe Mat & May

Page 2
Married May 24 1874
Writen by Joe.
Father Borned Aug 9th 1852
Died Aug 31 1921 [note: I'm pretty sure this should be Sept 3 1921]
Mother August 7th 1854
Died Feb 14 1916 [note: I'm pretty sure this should be 1915]

[note: don't know why it skips several lines]

My Father & Mothers
List im Here [note: not sure what this means]

Page 3 [note: appears to be a repeat of previous information]
Our Father & Mother
Father Borned Aug 9 1852
Died Aug 31 1921 [note:see previous note]
His name
James Monroe McGuire
Mother Borned August 7th 1854
Died March 16 1914 [note: different than before, but I'm pretty sure this should be Feb 14 1915]
Her full name
Martha Ann Johnson McGuire
He was 72 & she 60 years old.




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Let's Get Started

It seems like every five years or so I get back into one of my hobbies, genealogy, and it appears to be that time again.  This time around I decided to start a genealogy blog.  There are three main reasons why I'm doing this.  #1 - To make it easy for any known relatives (Hi Debbie, Hi Russ) to keep up with my latest findings.  #2 - To get some of my family names out on the internet so that search engines will find them so that other unknown relatives doing their genealogy can find me when they do a web search and we can get in touch.  #3 - To try to keep track of my research so the next time I take a five year break I'll be able to see where I left off.