Best Posts of 2013

2013 was a busy year for me, though not for blogging. I finished library school in May and I've been working part time at the library trying to get my foot in the door, in addition to working my full time job at the University. I've also been working on my house in my spare time until I finally got smart and hired contractors to finish the work (this was my Christmas present to myself).

Unfortunately I only managed to get 20 posts written this year here on my blog. However, I do believe that sometimes quality is better than quantity and I think this has shown to be true this year.

My most popular post of 2013 with a page count of 1,423 was Downloading Someone Else's Online Tree and then Uploading it as My Own. It was one of my first posts written in 2013. This post was written in collaboration with Russ Worthington's Cousin Collaboration post. Both posts share our attempts at using Family Tree Maker and our Ancestry.com online family trees to collaborate with family on our research efforts.

Another popular post was It Must Be in the Genes. This post was written in response to a DNA match I had which may have derived from a common WATSON ancestor. In a bit of genealogy serendipity, while I was researching my WATSON ancestors, I came across the will of Joseph JEANS who was the father of Nancy JEANS who married into my WATSON family. I included an image of the will, my transcription and the source citation; as well as the list of information I learned from the will and what my future research might entail.

My blogging year wouldn't be complete without a post about the North Carolina State Archives. This post about Identifying Land Grants using the NC State Archives' online MARS Catalog was especially memorable to me because it earned my blog a mention by the staff of the Archives in their blog History for All the People. It is an extensive "how to" for locating land records using the online catalog. The land records differ from deeds because they are usually the beginning of the paper trail for tracts of land. Land grants were issues by the State to the buyer up until a certain time after which land changed hands via deeds.

I hope you have enjoyed following my quality posts this year. What were your favorite posts?

Tombstone Tuesday - Joseph Hill - Newberry Co., South Carolina

Headstone of Joseph Hill in Lower Duncan Creek Cemetery in Whitmore, Newberry Co., SC. [1]

Transcription:

HERE

Lies the Body of

JOSEPH HILL

Husband of Ruth Hill

who died 

Oct 5th 1839

in the 68th year

of his age.

According to his headstone, Joseph Hill would have been born about 1771. He was my 5th great-grandfather. He was married to Ruth Fowler, daughter of Richard and Ruth Fowler. Ruth is also buried in this cemetery. 

• His son Elijah Hill [2] married Rachel Watson, daughter of Nancy Jeans and John Watson. 
• Their son Joseph Watson Hill married Josephine F Cox [3], daughter of Robert Cox and Basheba McCoy [4].
• Their son Nathaniel "Gus" Hill [5] married Jessie Inez Barton, daughter of James Silas Barton and Sarah Alice Tinsley. 
• Their daughter Blanche Kathryne Hill was my great-grandmother. She married John Brooks Binns, son of John Milton Binns and Perthinia Eula Brooks. I was fortunate to have grown up with most of my great-grandparents. 
• Their daughter Barbara Binns is my grandmother. She has taken the Family Finder autosomal DNA test. 

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

SOURCES: 

   [1] Photograph taken by Donna Brummett and added to Joseph Hill's Find-A-Grave memorial on 4 December 2008. Photo used with permission by owner. 

   [2] Newberry County, South Carolina, Wills Book, 1825-1840, Vol N, p. 170-171, Joseph Hill, 9 October 1939 (probated); Office of Probate Judge, Newberry; digital images, "South Carolina Probate Records, Bound Volumes 1671-1977," FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org : accessed 3 December 2013).  Mentioned as Elijah Hill in his father Joseph Hill's will (w. 30 Sept 1839, Newberry District, SC); and also named as Executor and granted letters testamentary.

   [3] Sharon J Doliante, Maryland and Virginia Colonials: Genealogies of Some Colonial Families, Volume I (1991; reprint, Baltimore, MD: Genealogical Publishing Co., Inc, 1998), p. 560, Odell Family; digial images, Ancestry.com, Ancestry.com (http://search.ancestry.com/search/db.aspx?dbid=48206 : downloaded 26 November 2013).

   [4] Greenville County, South Carolina, Wills Book, 1840-1852, Vol. C, p. 429-430, Bersheba Cox, 15 July 1852 (proved);  digital images, "South Carolina Probate Records, Bound Volumes 1671-1977," FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org : accessed 28 July 2011).

   [5] I have not found the will of Gus' father, John Watson Hill. I do intend to order the death certificate of Gus Hill, though, which should have the name of his parents listed.