52ancestors – Page 4

Leonhard Furrer: Namesake for Many Generations

This entry is part of the 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks series. This week’s prompt is Namesake. To see other posts in this series, view my 52 Ancestors in 2019 index.

Does your family have any names that repeat for generations? In my Smith family, the given name Leonard appears again and again — and can be traced to my 7x-great-grandfather Leonhard Furrer.

George Washington McMurry: Distinctive Grave Marker at the Cemetery

This entry is part of the 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks series. This week’s prompt is At the Cemetery. To see other posts in this series, view my 52 Ancestors in 2019 index.

I grew up visiting Ogden Cemetery — the burial place of many of my family members — often. It was just down the hill from my grandparents’ home, and I sometimes went with my dad to place flags on veterans’ graves for Memorial Day. I even did a special school project on gravestone rubbings in sixth grade.

**George Washington McMurry Grave Marker** – Ogden Cemetery, Liddieville, Franklin Parish, Louisiana
(photo by Ron Manley)

From a young age, I was always enamored by my great-grandfather’s grave — probably because the marker was so distinctive and easy to identify. It was located under a cedar tree near the curve in the gravel road, and it was shaped like a tree trunk!

Now that I’m a genealogist, I know much more about these “tree trunk” grave markers issued by the Woodmen of the World. I also know more about my great-grandfather George Washington McMurry, father of my grandmother Ethel. And even though the cedar tree was removed several years ago, I can still find this grave marker easily, a memory ingrained from childhood.

John Johnston: Military Prisoner of War

This entry is part of the 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks series. This week’s prompt is Military. To see other posts in this series, view my 52 Ancestors in 2019 index.

Memorial Day honors our veterans who made the ultimate sacrifice of their lives for our country. This week I want to focus an ancestor who came close to dying during his military service — my 3x-great-grandfather John Johnston who spent a year as a Civil War prisoner of war.

Narcissa Duncan Pailette: Named for Nature, Defied Nature

This entry is part of the 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks series. This week’s prompt is Nature. To see other posts in this series, view my 52 Ancestors in 2019 index.

This week’s prompt led me to an ancestor named for nature — my 3x-great-grandmother Narcissa Duncan Pailette. The name Narcissa means “daffodil” in Greek,¹ and these spring flowers are part of the plant genus Narcissus.²

Not only was my ancestor Narcissa named for nature, she also defied it. She lived into her 90s, and her obituary recognizes her as one of the oldest citizens of north Louisiana in 1948.

Malinda McCauley Johnston: Nurturing Wife, Sister, Grandmother, and Aunt

This entry is part of the 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks series. This week’s prompt is Nuture. To see other posts in this series, view my 52 Ancestors in 2019 index.

It’s difficult to know the character of our ancestors when all that remains of their lives are a few impersonal records. But sometimes these records can reveal clues about an ancestor’s nature. The simple choice of who lived in her home, the circumstances of a husband returning from a Civil War prisoner of war camp, and the situation of a widowed sister suggests my 3x-great-grandmother Malinda McCauley Johnston was a nurturing wife, sister, grandmother, and aunt.