Thursday, April 14, 2016

Blackberry Wine-Good for What Ails Ya!

Southern Ladies Willing To Whip Up Some Blackberry Winepparently, our ancestors put a lot of stock in the medicinal properties of Blueberry wine.
I found this article in ...
The Daily Chattanooga Rebel (Griffin, Georgia) Sat, Jul 2, 1864 First Edition Page 2

We are informed that there are many ladies through the country, who would willingly manufacture Blackberry wine and cordial for Hospital use, if the government would supply them with the necessary quantity of sugar with which to do it.  The matter is worthy of the immediate attention of the proper authorities.  The berries are now plenty but will not last long.  A little energy displayed at this time in distributing sugar, would probably result in supplying our hospitals with a sufficiency of these much needed articles.


Lip Smackin' Blackberry Wine

I ran across this Lip Smackin' Blackberry Wine recipe in...
Weekly Raleigh Register (Raleigh, North Carolina) Wed, Jul 22, 1857 Page 4

Blackberry Wine.
--The Columbus Sun Says: There is no wine equal to the blackberry wine when properly made, either in flavor or for medicinal purposes, and every person who can conveniently do so, should manufacture enough for their own use every year, as it is invaluable in sickness as a tonic, and nothing is a better remedy for bowel diseases.  We, therefore, give the receipt for making it, and having tried it ourself, we speak advisedly upon the subject:
"Measure your berries and bruise them; to every gallon adding one quart of boiling water.  Let mixture stand twenty-four hours, stirring occasionally; then strain off the liquor into a cask, to gallon adding two pounds of sugar; cork it tight and let it stand till the following October, and you will have wine ready for use, without further straining or boiling, that will make lips smack as they never smacked under similar influence before."





I think at the very least, one may not be feeling any pain, so to speak, after they drink the blackberry wine. Apparently, it is good for many ailments. such as diarrhea, dysentery, hemorrhoids and to help prevent heart disease.




Wednesday, April 6, 2016

Y-DNA Adventures

My experience has been that finding out the results of any kind of DNA testing is a wonderful and fun adventure.  Y-DNA is different in that only males can be tested.  Women do not inherit their Father's Y-dna.  It is only passed down in a pattern such as this...son-> father-> father's father-> father's father's father-> etc., much like the family surname is passed down.

I am involved in three Y-DNA projects even though "I'm just girl".  In my case, I talked three male cousins that carry the family surname for each line into donating their spit and cheek scrapings to the cause. 




The Johnson/Johnston/Johnstone DNA Project

The first Y-DNA project I got involved in was the J/J/J surname project.  Since my Father was deceased and all of his brothers were also, I ask my first cousin, John Johnson if he would be a participant.  

As you might imagine, with a name like Johnson, the genealogy can become complicated because there are so many of them in the world.  Then, we had Johnsons marrying Johnsons.  My Johnsons helped us out quite a bit by appearing in court, and before judges and juries, for various misdeeds and crimes.  While they were appearing in court, etc., they were being written about in the newspapers.  They left quite a paper trail!  But still, we were only able to trace back to my 4th Great Grandfather, Hartwell Johnson 1782-1873, born in Virginia, died in Missouri, and then we hit a brick wall.


Since we have participated in the Johnson Y-DNA project, we have joined a small group within the project where our DNA matches those participants more closely than other Johnsons in other groups.  Each member has to submit a pedigree going back as far as they can.  John, my cousin, matches someone within the group that has a pedigree going back to Richard Johnson b. abt. 1730 VA, d. 1769 Johnston Co. NC, who was the son of Silvanus Johnson b. abt. 1676-1701 Essex Co. VA.  We know there is a connection, we just don't know how we are connected yet.  We are working on some promising leads in probate records, etc.

If anyone would be interested in testing in the J/J/J Y-DNA project, please see the links below.

https://www.familytreedna.com/public/johnson/default.aspx


http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~hjohnson/



Smith Official DNA & One Name Study Project 

The second Y-DNA project that I got involved in was Smith surname project. 

One would think that having a name like Johnson would be enough, but NO....my Daddy had to marry my Mama, who was a Smith. 

We have only been able to document back to my 2nd Great grandfather, Thomas H Smith, born 1820 in Tennessee.  It has been rumored that he died ca. 1860 in Arkansas, but there is no proof.

THE Smith One Name and DNA project for Smith, Schmidt, Smyth, Smythe, Smidt and all variations, for all locations. - See more at: http://www.smithsworldwide.org/#sthash.AkLkXbUB.dpuf
THE Smith One Name and DNA project for Smith, Schmidt, Smyth, Smythe, Smidt and all variations, for all locations. - See more at: http://www.smithsworldwide.org/#sthash.AkLkXbUB.dpuf

THE Smith One Name and DNA project for Smith, Schmidt, Smyth, Smythe, Smidt and all variations, for all locations. - See more at: http://www.smithsworldwide.org/#sthash.AkLkXbUB.dpuf
The Smith Y-DNA project is not as well organized as the Johnson Y-DNA project, in that it is not broken down into as small as groups.  I asked my cousin Kenneth Smith to participate in the project.  He is not my first cousin, but is the son of my Grandfather's first cousin.  It doesn't really matter as long as the Smith Y-DNA was carried down from son-> father-> father's father-> father's father's father-> etc.

So far, we haven't gotten a very good result as far as finding out anymore about our Smith line. Currently, Kenneth has only tested up to 37 markers.  Perhaps, we will get a better result when he tests for 67 markers.

If anyone is interested in testing for the Y-DNA Smith surname project, please check out the links below.  You don't have to be related to me, but you may want to find out more about your own Smith line.



http://www.smithsworldwide.org/

https://www.familytreedna.com/groups/smiths/about/background 



The Meek/Meeks Y-DNA Surname Project

The third and last (so far), Y-DNA project, I have involved myself in is the Meek/Meeks surname project.

My Dad's Mother was a Meek.  I was curious about the Meek line and it was kind of scrambled.  There were two Meek families in Arkansas at the same time. 

I asked my cousin Walter Meek who is my Father's first cousin to participate and he agreed.  So far, his results have confirmed that the group we thought we belonged is correct. 

We are still looking for more Meek/Meeks males to participate.  If you are interested, and are curious about your Meek family, please feel free to check out the links below.

http://meekdna.com/


https://www.familytreedna.com/public/Meek/

I am very grateful to all of my male cousins that have participated in these Y-DNA projects.  They are not interested in the results as much as I am, but are willing to help the cause as far as furthering the genealogical research. Thank you John, Kenneth, and Walter!

THE Smith One Name and DNA project for Smith, Schmidt, Smyth, Smythe, Smidt and all variations, for all locations. - See more at: http://www.smithsworldwide.org/#sthash.AkLkXbUB.dpuf
THE Smith One Name and DNA project for Smith, Schmidt, Smyth, Smythe, Smidt and all variations, for all locations. - See more at: http://www.smithsworldwide.org/#sthash.AkLkXbUB.dpuf
THE Smith One Name and DNA project for Smith, Schmidt, Smyth, Smythe, Smidt and all variations, for all locations. - See more at: http://www.smithsworldwide.org/#sthash.AkLkXbUB.dpuf

Smith Official DNA & One Name Study Project
Smith Official DNA Project
Smith Official DNA & One Name Study Project
Smith Official DNA & One Name Study Project
Smith Official DNA & One Name Study Project

Friday, April 1, 2016

Fighting "Okies"

When the Okies came to California, they had it tough.  There is no doubt about it.  I'm not sure when signs like this first appeared.  I am sure it was probably after California residents were witness to an influx of migrant farm workers from Texas, Arkansas, Missouri, Oklahoma, etc.  The term "Okie" was coined to describe the new residents.
 










According to Dictionary.com the definition of Okie is...


a term used to refer to a migrant farm worker from Oklahoma or nearby states, especially one who moved westward during the Great Depression.
Usage  In historical contexts, Okie is usually used with disparaging intent and perceived as insulting, implying that the migrant worker is homeless, poor, ignorant, and uneducated.


I found this letter to the editor written in 1944.
The Fresno Bee The Republican (Fresno, California) Thu, Mar 23, 1944 Page 24

Fighting 'Okies' 
Editor of The Bee--Sir:  I read in the want ad section that Emory L. Cauble had a six room home to rent, but specified he did not want to rent to "Okies."
Well, I do not get what he means by that.  Does he think he is better than an "Okie"?  After all, the boys they call "Okies", are fighting right next to the boys from California and doing a hell of a good job.         A SOLDIER
Fresno Air Base

The Okies were tough people.  They had to scramble to find work and crude shelter in an unwelcoming environment.  Did they survive?  Hell yeah!  They were Okies....Fighting Okies.  They did better than survive, they hung in there and began to thrive.