Most Common Names in the United States

Dang, I'm a Lucky Girl!

According to Ancestry dot com, Smith is the most common name in the United States.  If one has a Smith in the family, they can expect to sort through 81 million records on ancestry. 

I do have a Smith in the family.  My Mother was Rosie Mae Smith.  As a matter of fact, I have many Smiths in the family.  One could say that I have hit the jackpot on Smiths.  My Smiths were a very prolific bunch to top it all off.  One of their favorite pass times was making more Smiths.  Every time, I turn around, I'm running into a new Smith cousin.  Lucky for me, we have DNA to help us sort through the Smith woodpile now.
https://blogs.ancestry.com/cm/smith-a-short-history-of-americas-most-popular-surname/?o_xid=78115&o_lid=78115&o_sch=External+Paid+Media


Not too far behind the Smiths are the Johnsons.  According to the 2010 census records (reflected in the link below), the Smiths are at 2.4 million with the Johnsons at 1.9 million. 
 
Do I have a Johnson in the family?  Well, yes.  Yes, I do!  My Daddy was a Johnson.  Lawrence Gerald Johnson.  There are many, many Johnsons in my family tree.  There are about as many of them on ancestry to sort through as there are Smiths.  I'm lucky again to have DNA to help me sort through all the Johnsons.

I recently met a cousin with the surname of Jones on ancestry that is related to both sides of my family.  Smiths (Mother), and Johnsons (Father).  This ought to be interesting to find out if any of the Smiths married a Johnson to produce a Jones.  😅

Jones is running in fifth place on the 2010 census with Garcia close behind them.

I find it to be very interesting the way the most popular surnames are slowly changing in our country. 
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B1NIqMRAF_SEOWoyMDJ2ZlZiQXM/view

Thanks Mama and Daddy for giving me such a challenging genealogy to research.  Out of all of the people in the world with different surnames, a Smith and Johnson found one another and fell madly in love.  When I really think about it though, I think I would rather have the challenging ( and probably more interesting than many others) genealogy, than to not be here at all. 

Rosie Mae Smith, Baby Helen Jane Johnson, and Lawrence Gerald Johnson

Thanks Mama Smith and Daddy Johnson again, for meeting, falling madly in love with one another and producing a little Johnson-Smith creature! Me! 😊

Mama Rosie's Hot Potato Salad Recipe

My Mom made the best potato salad ever!  Since it was so delicious, I make mine the same way.  I 'm going to share her recipe with you but I don't have the exact measurements for anything.

Rosie's Hot Potato Salad

-Russet or Red potatoes, peeled and cubed (enough to fill a 2 quart sauce pan) add water and boil
-6 boiled eggs, peeled and chopped - you may save one for garnish if you wish
-chopped red onion or yellow onion to taste
-mayonnaise to taste (you may use light mayo)
-red or white vinegar to taste
-salt and pepper to taste

Once potatoes are cooked, (I like mine semi-firm) mix with chopped eggs, copped onion, mayo, salt, pepper, and vinegar.  I always add the vinegar last. 
You may use a potato masher if you want your potato pieces a little smaller, but don't mash too much.  You still want your salad chunky. 
You may want to garnish the top of the salad with one of the boiled eggs, sliced and sprinkle with a little paprika.

Serve salad hot.  Um-um Good!

My Easter Story

Easter in Poplar, CA
I remember as a child growing up in Poplar, CA that Easter involved coloring eggs, getting a new dress (usually made by my Mother), and an empty Easter basket with fake grass to go in it.

 We always celebrated at my Grandma and Grandpa Smith's house.  Their house at that time consisted of two rooms.  The front room which was used for their bedroom, living room, entertaining and dining.  Then there was the kitchen which was used for cooking, as a bedroom and for dining. 

Grandma and Grandpa had six children and ultimately had 30 grandchildren.  In the photo below, from left to right, is me (Helen), my Mother (Rosie Mae), and a bunch of my Clay cousins (Roseann, John Wesley, Monty Ray, and Gerald Lee).

We were standing in front of Uncle Don and Aunt Betty's trailer which was parked on Grandma and Grandpa's property.  Aunt Betty and Uncle Don had 3 girls for most of the time the grand kids were growing up, and then they had an oops, which was number 4.

Another thing I remember about Easter is that there was always a lot of cousins around.  One Easter, I guess we couldn't afford to buy the egg coloring kit.  Grandma had some purple food coloring, so all of our Easter eggs were colored purple.  We had the eggs because my Grandma had chickens.  Grandma used to sell some of the eggs that she got from her chickens, but at Easter time, she

would save some for us.

My Mom used to tell a story about how I came home from Kindergarten and asked if we had any eggs I could have to take to school for the poor kids.  My Mom laughed, and said, "Helen, you are one of the poor kids".  I guess I didn't realize how poor we were because we had eggs.

We were poor, but we had plenty of food even if sometimes it might have been mostly beans and potatoes.  Pinto beans and potatoes....two of my favorite foods to this day. 

I always looked forward to a new Easter dress, a new empty Easter basket, coloring eggs, going to church, waiting for the Easter Bunny to hide the eggs, hunting the eggs with all of my cousins, and having a big dinner.

We would usually have ham, mashed potatoes, pea salad, banana pudding, pies, and cakes for dinner.  Sometimes, we might have fried chicken and other vegetable dishes too.  Much of the food would have been raised by us and would have been considered "organic" by today's standards.  We were eating organic before organic was cool, out of necessity.  Lol

Christ has died.
Christ is risen.
Christ will come again.
Christ will come again.


Happy Easter Everyone!

Rosie and Johnny

My Mother was a Smith, and my Father was a Johnson.  The beautiful, blond, green eyed, petite, Rosie Mae Smith and the, tall, dark, and handsome Lawrence Gerald Johnson, aka John.

Rosie was the last child of a family of six siblings.  I guess, because she was the last child, several relatives decided to name her.  She was named, Clara Rosie Edith Mae Dean Smith.  She had an Aunt Rosie who called her Rosa Dean.  There may have been a couple of other relatives to call her that too.  She never used the Clara or Edith.  She was born at home on February 5, 1935 in Muldrow, Sequoyah County, Oklahoma.  She didn't obtain a birth certificate until she was an adult.  On all of her legal records, she used the name, Rosie Mae Smith.

My Father was the last of six children also.  The oldest of the children passed away shortly after birth.  I don't know if she was even named.  Very few people called him by his given name.  Some family members in Oklahoma called him little Lawrence or Larry.  His father's name was also Lawrence.  He was called John or Johnny by almost everyone.  When he was little, he lived on his Grandma and Grandpa Johnson's farm in Caddo County, Oklahoma.  They had a Shetland pony.  He would get on the pony, fall off, and his Mother would say, "Johnny Jump up and try it again."  That is how he got the nickname.  He was born in Anadarco, Caddo County, Oklahoma, July 9, 1935.

My Mom was at times, a Holy Roller and tucked her Hell Raiser deep inside somewhere.  At other times, especially later in life, she let the Hell Raiser loose....big time!!  There were other times, she vacillated between the two....Poor Mama, she had her demons....at the same time, she always had her faith.

My Dad was always a Hell Raiser.  He didn't come from a religious background at all with the exception of the short time he attended parochial school for a few short months when he was young.  He put my Mom on a pedestal because she was so Holy and pure when they met, and always had such a strong faith.  He also had a belief in God, but didn't have the background.

When I first started doing genealogy, I thought I wouldn't make much progress on my family because my Mother was a Smith and my Father was a Johnson....that has not been the case.

Lawrence Gerald Johnson aka John or Johnny

Rosie Mae Smith Johnson