RootsTech 3 Days of Great Education

I just spent 3 days at a conference of 4,000+ genealogy enthusiasts and developers.  I was there as a student to see, learn and try out some of the new technology that is coming in this field.  This is also a wonderful place to get help on data programs that are giving you fits and you want face to face help.  I hit up the folks at Ancestry.com booth about sourcing and media attachment and got a really knowledgeable woman who spent 45 min with my friend and I helping us get comfortable with just those two functions.  I also got personal help from the head developer of a program I use called Family Insite.  I had up graded to Lion on Jan 1 and knew that there might be trouble with that particular program and there was.  However, I knew that I would be going to this conference and these developer folks are always kind about giving service for their patrons.  He looked it over on my laptop, gave me some suggestions and twenty mins later I was up and running.

The opening keynote and several others are on line for free at the following address

RootsTech 2012

The opening address  "Inventing the Future, as a Community" is worth a look and is definitely entertaining.  Take a look and let me know what you think.  Comments are welcome and desired.
Have a great weekend.

Kathleen

William Ware The Final One

William Ware

Born; 7 Apr 1864 Cave Spring, Floyd County GA

            Parents are; William Ware (1828-1865) and Martha Gee Ford (1833-1900)

He was one year old when his father died and  just over two when his mother married again to John Jetter Miller.  He had 3 younger Miller half siblings  Minnie Gee Miller, Cora Lillie Miller,  Adella Jetter Miller and  5 older Ware siblings; Martha Ophelia, George Harrison, Homer Cicero, Sarah Emma Ware.  Mr. Miller brought 3 other children to the marriage, Franklin Miller (1860) and Ella Miller (1864) children of his and his 1st wife, Nancy Ann Lumkin.  Also a child of Nancy Ann and her 1^st husband, John M. Loveless;  Julia Loveless.   I can only imagine how difficult that house must have been.  This was probably not terribly unusual for the period after the Civil War.

  By 1870 there were only 3 Ware children left living with Martha and the Millers, Mary Elizabeth, Sarah Emma and William.  Martha Ophelia had married, George H. and Homer C. had gone off to Arkansas and/or Texas to live with family or friends.

By 1880 Mary Elizabeth has married and Emma and William are living with their Aunt and Uncle, Green and Jincy Ware Cunningham. 

By 1882 Emma has gone to Dallas Texas to live with her brother Homer C. and his wife Teresa and she would shortly marry Teresa’s brother Lemuel M. Rape (Nov 1884).   It must not have been too much later that William arrived in Dallas himself.  He probably lived with one of the young couples. 

 In the 1880 Dallas Co. Census the Henry Rape family and the Smith family are two doors away from each other.  What more natural thing than for a double brother and sister to be concerned about this young unmarried man so they probably introduced him to one of the daughters of this family, Minnie Lee Smith.  They married about 1892 according to the 1900 Census.

The census records for 1900, 1910 and 1920 list William as  “electrician”,  “electrician” “wiring houses” and  “proprietor” “light plant”.  In his wife’s obituary  it states, “After her marriage, she went to Corsicana and later to McKinney, where she remained for nearly 30 years. Her husband owned an electric power plant at McKinney and later owned one at Wills Point for many years. In 1924 they came to Dallas, where her husband died in 1926 and where she lived until her death “ in 1938.

  My great Grandmother, Emma Ware Rape Cates had this picture with  “William Ware” and the date Sept 13 1926 on it.  We searched for many years looking for him and looked at the couple William and Minnie many times but had nothing to tie them together then one evening I found on Find a Grave “Mrs. William Ware” and her obituary.  It just felt that I had the right woman.   I wrote asking if this was the William born in Georgia.  By the next evening  a kind person (Mel Hammer) had photographed the tombstone and all the dates matched.  We had found William!

 

So thanks to Rosemarie for putting the information on at Find a Grave

To Mel Hammer for the photo of the tombstone

To  Tom Ware for  spurring me on  to keep looking

To Sarah Emma for the photo with the death date

And to my long suffering husband, Patrick for giving me time to spend at the computer.

Please feel free to leave a comment if you connect to this family.  We are still looking for descendants of the older sisters, Martha Ophelia who married Howell Cobb Barker and Mary Elizabeth who married Royal Baxter.  Both had children, and both died early.

The Rest of the Story: #1 George Harrison Ware

The internet is wonderful for advancing family history.  I have been using it since @1995 and I have found the most "funderful" cousins from everywhere.

I have always been interested in who my Great Grandmother, Sarah Emma Ware Rape Cates, was.  Her story which I will tell in this series of posts, but not today, reads like a novel and  think the whole Ware family has a deep romantic streak in their souls because they have some of the most amazing people in their ancestry and in their descendants.  I have been privileged to meet a few of these people and today I am sharing a post by "Cousin" Tom Ware of Louisianna.

Tom was refered to me in early 2010 by another "cousin" and he had a piece of the puzzle, "What happened to the family of William and Martha Gee Ford Ware after the Civil War?"  William and Martha had at least 8 children:

Martha Ophelia 1850-1892,  George Harrison Ware 1852-1922, child died at birth 1854, Homer Cicero 1855-1904, Mary Elizabeth 1856-1883, Sarah Emma 1858-1937,  Child (possibly twins lived 24+ hours)1862,  William1864-1923.  William died 9 days after Appomattox and the end of the war.  Within 10 years the family was scattered, I know the two older sisters married but died early, Sarah and Homer married siblings in Texas, but the two brothers George and William could not be found until Tom contacted me.

This is part of the "rest of the story".

George Harrison Ware

Colonial Heights

My grandfather, George Harrison Ware was born 12 August 1852 near Six Mile, Floyd County, GA, the 2^ndst son to William Ware (1828 – 1865) and Martha Gee Ford (1833 – 1900).  He is believed to have grown up in the Joseph Ford plantation home known as Colonial Heights located (34 deg 10’ 12.49”N 85 deg 13’ 20.14”W) on old Booze Mountain Rd SW about 1.2 miles SW of Six Mile, GA which in turn is located appropriately 6 mi SSW of Rome, GA out the old Cave Springs Rd SW.  Note the southwestern leg of Booze Mtn. Rd is now called Samuel’s Mtn. Rd SW and Colonial Heights address is now 54 Samuel’s Mtn. Rd SW, Rome, GA.  His father & mother are both buried there in what is now known as the Birdsong Cemetery. 

Courtesy

The old Ware family home (Courtesy Plantation) is 1.6 mi to the west down that same road at present day 486 Booze Mountain Rd and the Ware Cemetery is about 700’ north and in front of the home.  The old refurbished home, on 1.75 acres, has been up for sale about three years and is now offered at $159,000 (see GA MLS#2539624).  Most of the old plantation of 1820 origin is now a large industrial park between Booze Mountain and Paris Lake in Floyd County, GA.  Part of a new Hwy By-Pass south of Rome, GA will pass just behind Courtesy Plantation and just in front of Colonial Plantation.  The fact that both homes are Historical Landmarks, originally built in what was then The Cherokee Nation, is probably what saved them from being gobbled up in the Hwy By-pass project.   

Grandfather’s early life, was disrupted by the Civil War, and torn asunder by the death of his father in April of 1865.  Thereafter, his mother’s older brother (Arthur S. Ford) was appointed Administrator of the Estate of William Ware and Guardian of the children until his mother could remarry – since at that time property rights were not granted to women.  His mother, Martha Gee Ford Ware, then married John Jetter Miller, a widower with children, on 16 Sep 1866 in Floyd County, GA; whereupon the property issues were resolved and Mr. Miller then became George’s Guardian.  It was said that life with the new step- father was not too desirable and by the 23^rd August 1870 Census neither George H. nor his younger brother Homer C. Ware were listed in the Miller household.  At that time George H. Ware would have been almost exactly 18 yrs old and his brother Homer C. Ware would have been about 15 yrs and 6 mo old.  They reportedly both left the home of their stepfather ultimately moving west to “Arkansas and Mississippi,” probably to a relative’s household until becoming established on their own, although Homer turned up as a single boarder in the 1880 US census for Ellis County (just south of Dallas), Texas.

 

George H. Ware next turned up in Little Rock, AR in the Pulaski County Clerk’s Marriage Records at age 23 yrs & 9 mos as having married the 40 yr & 9 mo old, widow, Isabella Eliza Jane Mills Culpepper on 19 Dec 1875.  Then in the 1880 Census for Little Rock (2^nd Ward), Pulaski Co., AR he was enumerated 12 Jun 1880 as Head of Household at 1105 Welsh St. (built by George H. Ware and occupied continuously by Ware’s until the late 1990’s) living with wife Isabella, 19 yr & 8 mo old “daughter” Fannie,  and 17 yr & 5 mo old “son” James.  George H. became a skilled carpenter along the way and later worked as a cabinetmaker in a Railroad Shop building passenger-train cars and also was a contractor  building numerous homes on Welsh St and on the east side of little Rock.

As it turns out Fannie was not his daughter but the foster daughter, Fannie L. Thomas, of the Rev. James L. and Isabella Eliza Jane Mills Culpepper, taken into their home in 1862 at Pine Bluff, Jefferson Co. AR.  Also 17 year old James (b 8 May 1863) was the only natural born child of the Rev. and Mrs. Culpepper to reach adulthood.  They and all their families were affiliated with the Methodist Episcopal Church of the South and later with the First Methodist Church in Little Rock.

George H’s. 1^st wife, Isabella, died 12 May 1889 and was buried beside her 1^st husband  in Bellwood Cemetery in Pine Bluff, AR; thereafter, it appears that George H. at age 38-4/12 yrs then married 30-10/12 yr old Fannie L. Thomas  (my grandmother) on 10 Nov 1890 in Pine Bluff, AR, per Jefferson Co. Marriage records.  Between 1892 and 1906 they had six children the last being my father when she was 46-2/12 years old.  George H. Ware died 22 Jul 1922 at age 69-11/12 in Little Rock, AR, from a blood clot in his leg, and is buried in Oakland Cemetery in Little Rock beside Fannie L. Ware.

 

Thanks to Tom for this sketch of George Harrison Ware's life.

If anyone out there reading this blog is a descendant of Martha and William please feel free to comment or contact me.  I would love to find the "rest of the story" on a lot of my Ware relations.

A tribute to my Dad

David Thomas Cates Jr.

 Dad was born July 26, 1921 in Plainview, Hale County, Texas.  His father David Sr. was a roustabout for an oil company at the time and therefore traveled where ever there was work in the surrounding towns of west Texas and eastern New Mexico.  His mother was Ruth Carter whose parents were what were called "dry farmers".  In other words in west Texas they didn't farm much because there was little rain.  Dad graduated from Hobbs High School in 1939 (Hobbs, New Mexico) and joined the Army the next year.  Once in the army he applied and was accepted into the new Army Air Corp.   And then WWII began.

He met Dorothy while he was stationed at Kearns, Utah.  They married in Salt Lake City in July 1943.

They had 4 children.  He was a building contractor.  Dorothy died in 1990 and he remarried Anna Christensen.  As of the last 10 years his cognitive abilities declined due to head injuries caused by several falls.  He had lived in assisted living since the last fall in Dec of 2009. 

He died 10 July 2011.  Sixteen more days and he would have been 90 years old

He loved his family, his fellowmen and the Gospel of Jesus Christ.  He is now with his beloved Dorothy and free from the physical fetters of this life.  I am sure there was a big party since he was the last man standing of his siblings on this earth.

Thanks Dad and until we meet again:

We love you.

Kathleen & Pat & the boys (and now all the girls too)

Alexander Ware: Case #3

Well, this is the last of the Ware family that is often combined with each other.  We separated the  two Williams and this is the last of the three Alexanders.  


I have enjoyed doing the research for these individuals because it brings them to life.  It has also been a great exercise in learning computer/blogging skills to get these to the blog with a semblance of form and order.  I have acquired new skills in doing so.


Alexander Ware. #3  AKA "Sandy"or "Alex"

Born 29 Aug 1821 in Madison County Georgia to James Ware II and Lettice Ware.  He married Cynthia Dupree (b.20 Jun 1830; d. 26 Feb 1909; daughter of Joseph Dupree and Caroline Spratling)  on 16 Dec 1845 in Floyd County, Georgia.  He died 9 May 1906 in Henderson County, Texas.  He was known in the family as “Sandy”.

He is the nephew of William Alexander Ware b. 11 September 1789, Amherst county Virginia; d.8 Jun 1836, “Alexander #2 and the grand nephew of William Alexander #1 b. @1747 Amherst County, Virginia; death unknown but probably Georgia.  He is also the bother of William Ware b 1828-d.1865, who married Martha Gee Ford.  

On 12 May 1899 Alexander Ware #3 sat for questioning for a Confederate Pension Application for the state of Texas[1].  The following answers help to fill out his life after  his marriage to Cynthia Dupree.

What is your name?  Alex Ware   
What is your residence & how long?  Catfish, Henderson Co. Texas.  41 years.  
How old are you?  80 years. 
State company and regiment of CW service:  Company D 13 Texas Infantry.  Served 3 years.
He is able to sign; Alex Ware,  Date of signature; 1 Aug 1899 
 

The 1850 Census of Paulding Co. Georgia[3] shows Alexander and Cynthia with 2 children, Cloy Ann a female age 3 yr. and “Babe” a male age 1yr.  Family tradition[4] says that the Wares left Paulding county in the mid 1850’s and “traveled with others from Macon, Georgia to Texas by covered wagon to Mobile Alabama where they boarded a boat to Galveston, Texas.  They settled first around the Livingston/Conroe area but were attacked by Indians and felt it better to move on to Henderson County.  A concrete trough found in Athens indicates the Wares were in Henderson County by 1858.”

According to Alexander in his application for Confederate pension (1899) he said he had lived in Henderson Co. Texas for 41 years.  Cynthia in her statements for pension in 1908 stated that she had lived in Henderson Co. Texas for 51 years.  So we know from personal statements that they came to Henderson Co. about 1857/58. 

By 1860[5] their home was in Baxter a community east of Athens.  Alex’s occupation was listed as “mechanic”, he has $6700.00 of real estate and $8000 of personal property, The children are all listed as being born in Georgia but the last child, “one nameless” a male, is listed as “age 1” so he must have been born in Texas.  Even Alexander Stephen listed as age 3, was probably born in Texas if they left Georgia in the “mid 50’s”.

The 1870 Census[6] shows only the last two children being born in Texas @1864 and 1866.   The property value is down to $500.00 and the real property $250.
Both Alex and Cynthia appear on the 1880[7] Census as a family unit with two youngest children still in the Athens.  However, by the 1900[8] Census Alex is living with his daughter Ophilia and her husband, Nathan Frizzell.  While Cynthia[9] is living with Buster and his wife Fanny.

Summation for Alexander #3 or "Sandy" 
Born; 29 Aug 1821 Madison County Georgia
Parents: James Ware II and Lettice Ware
Married; Cynthia Dupree 16 Dec 1845 in Floyd County Georgia
Resided: Paulding County Georgia 1845-@1855.  Henderson County Texas @1858-1906
Died; 9 May 1906, Henderson County Texas

---

[1] Confederate Pension Application Comtroller’s File # 6691: filed 16 March 1900.       

Texas State Library & Archives Commission Web Site.   Archives & Manuscripts; Texas State Library and Archives Commission:  Confederate Pensions Search.

[2] In 1861, Col. Joseph Bates raised the 13th Texas Infantry Regiment in Galveston and Brazoria County with headquarters in Valasco, Texas. The regiment was assigned coastal duty between Galveston and Matagorda most of the war. From May to September 1863, the regiment was moved to Louisiana and served under Gen. Richard Taylor with headquarters in Bashgear City.

[3] 1850, U.S. Census Georgia, Paulding Co. page 117, stamp 59; family #89; Lines 19-22.

[4] Information given by Celeste Harris, Lela Ed Harris West Fannin, Moral Harris on two page monograph.

[5] 1860, U. S. Census Texas, Henderson Co. Post office; Athens, pg. 19 stamp 26; Family # 118, Lines 28-35.

[6] 1870, U.S. Census Texas, Henderson Co. Post office; Athens, pg 5-6,  stamp246-247; Family # 36 Lines 36-40 on pg 5 and lines 1-6 on page 6.

[7] 1880, U.S. Census Texas, Henderson Co. ED #31, pg 14B, Family #84 lines 49-50 and pg. 15C, stamp #110, Family #84, lines 1-5.

[8] 1900, U.S. Census Texas, Henderson Co., ED 54, Sheet B, page 1180 Family # 42, lines 57-64

[9] 1900, U.S. Census Texas, Henderson Co., ED 54, Sheet B, pg. 1297, Family #163, Lines 76-79.

Maureen Taylor the Picture Detective

I went to RootsTech 2011 conference in February and Maureen Taylor was there taking 15 minute appointments for photo identification.  I have had some old leather bound cases with photo's in them that came from my Ware/Ford family and I despaired of ever knowing who they were.  Maureen took one look and gave me enough information that I could pin point exactly who 4 of the six were and she gave me a good clue as to the possibility of the remaining two individuals.

 She identified these 1st two pictures as "ambrotype" pictures probably taken @ 1854-1856 because of the dress and Hair style and the fact that this type of photography had a very limited time in production.  

The 2nd set is the same couple some 5-7 years later @1860-1865.  These are daguerreotypes. 
The clothing for both male and female have some distinctions that she pointed out but it is the hair that I noticed.  In the 1st picture the woman's hair is pulled severely down and back where as the 2nd picture the hair is pulled down on the top but is left full over the ears and sides of the head.  It is possibly in a snood or net of some kind in the back this loose type hair was popular after 1860.  Also the lace gloves were popular in that period also.

There were several more things she mentioned but in 15 minutes it was hard to write down everything she mentioned and the foregoing is what I was able to take note of.

 Ms. Taylor was very firm that these are pictures of the same couple and in our family there is only one couple that fits that time period  and that is William Ware and Martha Gee Ford.

These pictures; according to my father, David Cates, came from Grandma Cates home.  His mother, Ruth Carter Cates was adamant about preserving these and kept them in a box along with Grandma's bible and other family records some of which I described here.

There was another couple in another small leather case and when I showed all of them she said, "well these two women are related.  Most likely mother & daughter".  I will post these two pictures in another post but again there was only one family that would fit those parameters.  Joseph Ford and Sarah Smith.  Ms. Taylor said that the picture is an Ambrotype and therefor probably taken at the same time as the 1st set.

Sarah Smith died in 1862 and William Ware died in 1865.  If you recognize these names or pictures please leave a comment and let me know.  I have some wonderful information on these families.  I have been to both homes and taken pictures of both cemeteries.  I am happy to share.

This information was worth the price of the conference!

Alexander Ware; Case #2

Alexander Ware #2

Always so interesting to find that you had documentation all the time that helped with the sorting out.

Alexander Ware #2 was born 11 September 1789 in Amherst, Virginia to James Powell Ware and Mary Veale.  A nephew to William Alexander Powell Ware (b.  about 1748 and married to Martha “Patty” Davis), a brother to James Ware who married his cousin Lettice Ware, also a brother to Edward who married Sarah Daniel Penn.  Alexander is the name he is always called in the family bible of Edward Ware (his brother) and Sarah Daniel Penn.

Alexander #2 is the individual who lived in the area of Line Creek, Fayette Co. Georgia.  He was a fairly large land owner and slave holder.  He was a soldier in the War of 1812 and eventually became a state brigadier-general.   He also worked with the Creek Indians and it was to his house the 2 widows of Chief William McIntosh came when their husband was killed.

“McIntosh’s remaining family, including the two wives and two sons, refuged to General Alexander Ware’s home in Fayette County.  Ware’s home and property was on the eastern side of Line Creek, near the border of Georgia and the Creek Nation, in the vicinity of present day Peachtree City. With them came 120-150 other Creek Indians who feared for their lives. General Ware and friendly whites did what they could for the refugees. Ware reported to Governor Troup, “The road is covered with refugees, and upwards of four hundred warriors of hostile party are feasting on McIntosh’s cattle and would be marching toward the settlement of whites in three days. I will prepare for an invasion of perhaps as many as four thousand warriors. Whites, who have lived among Creeks a long time and know them, are sending their families out of the Creek Nation.” Near General Ware’s home, in fear of a Creek up-rising, Fort Troup was constructed to protect the settlers and friendly Indians, but the attack ever came.”   From the web site Historical Exploration  by Edward Jordan Lanham and John Lynch,  April 2007  “Chief William McIntosh And The McIntosh Road”

 As I have researched the Alexander Ware on Line Creek, Fayette County Georgia he has always been mentioned in compiled genealogies or other books of historical information as “never married”.  Last week in preparing for this article after “googling”  Alexander Ware the following information  from “Biographical souvenir of the States of Georgia and Florida” pg 812-813  An article about Col. George M. T. Ware b. 17 Nov 1824 in Fayette county Georgia includes the following;

“Gen. Alexander Ware, his father, was a soldier in the war of 1812, and later a State brigadier-general.  He had charge of the McIntosh party of the Creek Indians who ceded lands to Georgia, which created a division in the tribe known as the Hostiles and the McIntosh party.  He was also a planter and an enterprising man of means, investing when and where the outlook appeared inviting.  He was killed July 7, 1836, at about the age of forty years, in Texas, by parties who belong to the “Murrell gang,” which was a band of outlaws headed by one John A. Murrell.  They originated in Tennessee during the thirties, and operated mostly in the southern States, and notably in Tennessee, Louisiana, Georgia, Alabama and the Carolinas and Mississippi and in the great Mississippi Swamp, where they had their headquarters.  Their business was mostly stealing “niggers,” selling them and stealing them again as often as possible or prudent, and then killing them, on the theory that “dead men tell no tales.”  This band was finally broken up under the surveillance of Detective Virgial A. Stewart.”

Now this is an interesting turn of events, a son who was about 11 years old at his fathers death, especially a man of great wealth and position as this particular Alexander Ware, should be easy to find in the land and guardian records of the day.  So that is an area of research to be pursued in January 2011 h

The following is a transcription of the newspaper article of July 12, 1836 announcing the murder of General Alexander Ware and requesting contact from any heirs to claim the property, both land and slaves. 

Macon, July 7—We are informed by a Mr. Clark, a gentleman recently from Texas, that General Alexander Ware, Formerly a resident of Fayette county, in this state, was murdered in Veilon Zavalla Colony, about the last of May.  He was traveling with a man by the name of Eaton, by whom he was shot and robbed of his money,(probably 5 to 6,000 dollars.  Eaton was pursued into the United States, but it is not known whether he has been taken.  General Ware left, it is believed, about 15 negroes on his farm, near the town of San Augustine, and as he has no connections in that country, that our informant knows of, it is probable that his property could be obtained, if claimed by his relatives in the United States.  Our informant thinks that further information, might, probably be obtained respecting his property, by writing to Col. John Thomas, recently of Upson county, in this State, at San Augustine, via Fort Jessup.-Messenger

 

Recap of Facts        

#2 Alexander Ware; Parents are James (Powell alias) Ware #1 and Mary Veal.  His known siblings are James Ware #2 and Edward Ware #3.    

He was born 11 September 1789 in Amherst, Virginia.   

His family moved to Elbert County Georgia in 1790 and settled in a part of that county that later became Madison County.   

As an adult he fought in the War of 1812 and later in several Indian conflicts.  He was elected a state Brigadier General.  

 He was an early settler in Fayette County, electing to purchase property on the very edge of the frontier with the Creek Indians. 

In early 1830’s he began to sell off his property in Georgia and moved to Texas when it was really frontier.  

 The Edward Ware III and Sarah Daniel Penn bible gives the date of his murder as 8 June 1836. He was 46 years old