Recording Our Lives

There are things in our life that we do, we may not consider. We're recording our lives. There are others who are watching us. But at times do we realized that?

Our lives, no matter how long or short it maybe, will have something to say for those who are watching us. We all note things about one another. Things that we point out and have some things to say about what we do.

If we set back and review our lives we can note some things that we do or have been doing. Things that has given us a signature about our live. We all have something as a signature.

It may be what we always wore. For example sunglasses, hats, certain kind of clothing that we took on in our lifetime. This signature is something that leaves us an image of what we are associated with.

Then we when we recall a person's life, we should think of the good. And there are some things that are unusual about others. What we do lead us to what others perceive in us.

Indeed our lives are being recorded. May we realize that others are watching us. May we reflect humility and not to be prideful. May we see the beauty that others have in them. Amen!

On The Journey ....
Recording Our Lives

There are people who are watching us.
What we do leaves some kind of impression.
Whether it's for influence or for causing others to stumble.
Remember God is watching TOO!

Susan

What About Hannah Hooper?

What have I discovered about Hannah Hooper, my 3rd Great Grandmother? I first came across Hannah's name on the 1880 Missouri census in the 1980's. She was about 115 years old born in SC. She was listed as an univalent. Her parents were from VA.

Hannah was listed as the Grandmother of Elais Bartlett. I was always lead to believe that Hannah was Elais grandmother until... I did some searching.

Early in 2008, I came across a death record of a Great Aunt, Waunetta Bartlett Armstrong ( 1891 -1929). She was my Grandmother Jennie's ( 1883 -1926) sister. Waunetta's parents names were listed on the death record.

Waunette parents were Elais Bartlett ( ca 1822 - ? ) and Harriet Hooper ( 1849 -1909). So, I see that Hooper came from Harriet's side and not Elais'. That changed some things.

Now, I have found all my Great Grandparents by name. I had all my Great Grandmother's maiden names. I was so excited that I came across that information.

Discovering Things While On The Journey
What About Hannah Hooper?

Hannah was the oldest person that I have found on my family tree.
She was born around 1765 in SC.
I don't know when Hannah passed way.
But she was listed on the 1880 census.
115 is a long time to live.

Hannah Hooper was my Great Harriet's grandmother.
Harriet Hooper Bartlett was the mother of Jennie Bartlett Blakley Lyle.
Jennie...was the mother of David Blakley Sr.
David Blakley Sr. was my father.

Grace to you,
Susan

Lineage Notebook

I got this idea back on August 29, 2009. I was forming a family group sheet of all family members living and who have gone on. I tried to list every one I know of.

I divided each family into groups. I added their children and their spouses. I did this on my mother's side and on my father's side. There were four divisions.

I had to use tabs to locate people. I have more names on my father's side. They came for large family. Some of them had large families as well.

I then began to index the surnames. There are some people with the same names. I even found same surnames on both parents side. Madison. Nickerson. I have to know which one is which.

While On The Journey
Lineage Notebook

I plan to add more names as the years go by

Blessings,
Susan

The Assumption Of The Life Of Andrew White

This was written in August of 2007 with some updates

Andrew WHITE was believed to have came into Howard County MO from VA.
It's not for sure if he came from Montgomery County KY or Madison County VA

BLAKEY Slave owners came from Orange and Middlesex County in VA.
Andrew was born around 1810/1813/1818 ...Mostly likely in VA not KY
Andrew's parents could have been slaves owned by wealthy John W. WHITE Sr.from VA.

Andrew was perhaps given to Frances (WHITE) BLAKEY
around 1830's- 1840's as a wedding gift.
Andrew was with John and Frances BLAKEY
around the time of John's death 25 August 1844 in Howard Co MO.

Andrew was listed on probate records dated 5 January 1858.
7 other slaves which were assumed to have been Andrew's slave family:
wife, Julia and children

Andrew's where-about after 1858 is unknown.
A bill of sells between 1 March 1858 - June 1859 could be some help.
Andrew may have not been sold with his slave family.

There has been no evidence of Andrew in Chariton County MO
in marriage records 1865-1880
Andrew WHITE born ca 1818 not on 1880 Census Records for MO.

Julia was listed as a widow on the 1880 census in Howard County.
There wasn't much mention in oral history about Andrew.
During the early family reunion the mother's and father's names were not known.

We can assume that the slave family did reunite after slavery.
Most of them returned to the Forest Green MO area.
The mother and some of her children are buried there.

Additional information about this story
Description Andrew WHITE, the slave

Faith Day

Posted on Sunday, 01 April 2007
I will continue from yesterday's blog entitled "A Unique Day". I suggest that you read "A Unique Day" first.
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The day was April 1st, 2000. It was Census Day 2000 when the count of every household in the U.S.A. were due. I mailed our in ahead of time. I was considered the head of the house. I thought that was weird. I filled out the census so I was declared that the head of the house... Back to my testimony. I call this one "Faith Day"...
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I woke up around 6 AM hour. I am usually up before during the 5 AM hour. I over slept this time. I glanced over in the direction of where my mother was sleeping. I could not see her but I assume that she was still sleeping. There was not enough light in the room for me to read so I used a flash light to read my Bible. I wanted to jump right into my time with God.

I don't remember actually what I was reading on this day. It should have been from Psalm 92, the 92th day of the year in 2000. And from Proverbs 1, the first day of the month. I recall that I was in the book of Thessalonians.

Also I recall the scripture...I don't know where it is in the Bible....but it's the one that has ....absent from the body, present with the Lord. This scripture was in my thoughts or my reading that morning....I glanced to see if my mother was up. She appeared to be in the same position that I saw her last. I though that that was odd. I was reading a long time.

So I kept on reading my Bible. I don't recall what I was reading but, a "Voice" spoke to me and said that "your mother is died." My response was...and I am not making this up..."If she is then she is in the presence of the LORD." Then I keep right on reading my Bible. I did not think to question what I heard.

I kept on reading my Bible. I don't know how long of time or how long after I heard that "Voice". But after I got finish with my Bible reading, I heard the "Voice" came again and said "Check on your mother." And so I closed my Bible and was going to check on my mother. I got up and then looked in the direction where my mother was laying...

What I saw....made me hurry to her bedside. My mother's mouth and eyes were open. My first response was...I can't remember if I spoke this out loud or not...as I was looking into my mother's eyes and touching both of her hands, I spoke to GOD saying with a calm voice..."She is with You." I had PEACE that I can not explain to you, when I first saw my mother's body and then looked into her eyes.... I knew that she was no longer with us. She is with Jesus. From the few moments afterwards what I did next was done in calmness...
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Our mother was buried seven days later, the following Saturday. That was on the 8th day. Our mother fell asleep in Jesus and went HOME 20 days before her 80th birthday. She passed just four days after what would have been her 63rd year since she married my father who passed in 1989. I was born in l963, the day after Palm Sunday.
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What I just shared with you, I did not make it up...and what I am about to say next is true also...
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I prayed for months for my mother. She was in the hospital for about a week, six months before she passed...she had a heart condition. Three days before her passing my mother was saying things that did not make any sense to me. [As I look back...I believe that she knew what was going on.]

I was going to Wednesday morning Bible Study. Pastor Linda S. was telling her testimony about her grandma's passing. So I started to pray for my mother. I even was reading the obituaries for about two months as I would pray for the survivors left behind. I just started doing this. I did not know why.

There were times that I pray to God whenever it's time for my mother [to be with You,] prepare us for her passing... I did this before our father past in 1989. I continue to say this prayer. Father God, prepare us before the next loved one's time to come to be with You.

I don't want to sound so "spiritual" in what I just testified. Some time ago, there were some people who shared with my that I look "so spiritual" when I am in praise and worship with God. I did not have a clue to what they were talking about. Being "spiritual." To me it's how I do when I am in the presence of God. I believe that God does leads me into doing some things.
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One more thing on my mother's passing. I went to church on Sunday the next day. It was different. After the service was over and I was waiting on my friend to take me home, I was looking out the door into the sky. I saw two big birds hovering in the air. This brought my thinking back to that eagle dream that I had. It was like in the spirit I knew that my mother and father were in heaven with Jesus. And that I am ready to fly...like an eagle in the spirit.
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Also these pass weeks, I have had awesome times in prayer at home. I pray that you will continue to enter into prayer during this week of the Holy Days. I am in a week of celebrating and entering into Easter. It started Friday night. I hope that we will be refreshed as we keep pressing into what our Lord God has for us. Amen.
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Enter the "garden" of prayer like you have never done before....

A Unique Day

« This was post on Saturday, 31 March 2007 on my other blog site.

It was a Friday, March 31, 2000. It was a very long day for me. I felt different that day. I had some scriptures that was on my mind. I was meditating on Isaiah 43:18-19. "Do not remember the former things, Nor consider the things of old. Behold, I will do a new thing, Now it shall spring forth; Shall you not know it? I will even make a road in the wilderness And rivers in the desert."

It was the atmosphere that was different on that day. I felt like I was in another world. My thoughts were on those scriptures. I wrote the Isaiah 43 verses down including different translations. I wanted to get the meaning of what these verses were saying to me. The months of February and March 2000 was very hard for me. And I recall a very "strong" dream that I had that was still on my mind.

I had a dream of an eagle flying. I was above the eagle looking down upon it, soaring into the sky below me. As I was looking at the eagle diving into the air, something push me from where I was at, in the dream and then I was beginning to fall. When this happened, I woke up from the dream. The dream stuck with me for some time.

This dream started some of "the unique" and "strange" things that were going on during February and March of 2000. But on the last day of March, I got a "strong" revelation that I was a descendant of Adam and Eve. I had a "weird" feeling. This made me stop where I was at when I was walking. I have been having things coming to me, that made me think.

My mother was acting "strange" for about a month or so but the last week of March even "stranger" in her behavior. On March 31st, she asked me to rub her feet. [At that time she was needing to have her feet up. They were swollen.] I was very tried that day, I did not want to do her feet but I believe that the Spirit of the Lord spoke to me to "rub her feet." So I did as she was talking on the phone.

Also my mother was wanting to talk to people. She wanted me to look up the numbers and dial the numbers for her. [She call some of her children... ]It was unusual for her to ask me to dial the number for her. But I did.

I went to Friday night church. It was different too. Pastor BZ was preaching out of the book of Ephesians. Also there were some friends that I wanted to talk to who were back from Israel. I got to talk to a few. I was so excited about their journey. I wanted to ask them about their adventure.

I was still at a high and felt different after I got home from church. I got home and got myself ready for bed about 11PM. My mother was still up in her chair, asleep. I was reminding her that she needed to keep her feet up and that she needed to go to bed. So she got in her bed.

I slept on the sofa in the same room with her. She had a hospital bed which was much higher than the sofa that I was sleeping in. My plans for the next day was to caught up

73 Years Ago

From my notes: October 19, 1980
[My] mother and father married, when others didn't want them to. They arranged to marry in Troy, KS in Reverend Bell's home. [ It was ] ( Just like a church) on March 28, 1937. Others wanted [ my ] mother to marry O. Thomas, [ my] Uncle Vernon's brother.

Here is another story: Entry October 19, 1980
[There was ] a boy? who liked [my] mother. The boy was a friend of my father. He (the boy) paid [ my ] father to go out with [ my ] mother and put in some good words in for him.

My father took the money and got a date for himself. They, [ my ] mother and father went together for about 2 years and got married in Troy, KS.

Another Entry: March 1, 1986
[ My ] Father and mother [ were ] married in Troy Kansas, [ my] father made all the arrangements. Mr Lyle [ Old man Lyle was my father's step father ] couldn't read or write was a witness. They [ my mother and father ] were married on March 28, 1937.

My mother's parents didn't want them [ my parents ] to get married. My mother's maiden name was spelled wrong on the wedding certificate.

Some of my thoughts on the 73rd Anniversary Day:
I can assume on that day that my parents went to church on that Sunday. They eloped. Besides, my parents were married in the preacher's house. My father's step father was a witness to the wedding.

As I recall my mother saying that she and my father were childhood sweet hearts. My mother's mother was friends with my father's mother before my parents were married. My parents lived in the same neighborhood at same time.

I recall my father speaking of what this guy who ask him, my father about my mother. This guy would ask my father.. are you reeling in my mother" I mean was my father speaking good words in for this boy. Those words that my father were speaking were for his own sake not that boy's.

I talked with my Aunt Josie. She remember this guy. She said this guy want to date my mother so bad that he ask my father to speak some good words in for him. Yeah, those words were for himself. He got paid to do it to.

My parents had 19 children together. I don't recall my parents ever having an argument. They were married 52 1/2 years before my fathers passing. My mother passed away 4 days after what would have been their 63rd wedding anniversary. That was 10 years ago.

I thank God for blessing my with parents. I am thankful that my parent had one more child born during their 26th anniversary year. That child is me.

I am thankful that I had 25 1/2 years with my father. And 36 years and 357 days with my mother. I thank God I will reunite with them again.

Discoveries While On The Journey:
My Parents: 73 Years Ago

Blessings,
Susan

On An Adventure

I made some new found discoveries last year about my 2nd Great Aunt Mattie WHITE. She was one of my Great Grandpa Isaac BLAKEY's sisters. I'm trying to piece the puzzle together with what's known.

Oral history states that Mattie never married and had one daughter named Bob Ella BENTLEY CARR. I came across a Mattie WHITE on the census records. She was listed with two daughters. One is named Ella WHITE and the other Oressia WHITE.

The Mystery...
Did Mattie have 5 children?
What about Ella White?
What about Oressia White?
Who were the other 3 children?
Was Mattie a widow?
Who did Mattie marry?
Did her husband have to same last name of WHITE?

There some much that I've come across.
Continuing on my family history quest.

Still On My Journey
On An Adventure

Susan

Who Was Isaac Lankford Jr. ?

Some thoughts of who Isaac Lankford could have been.

Where did the name Isaac Lankford come from?
It was first found on Charlotta Lankford's death record.
Isaac was stated to be Charlotta's son.
The signature was Isaac Lankford Jr.

Perhaps Isaac could have been a middle name of Charlotta's son.
Charlotta died in New York 1924.
Son, Isaac Lankford Jr. was the imformat.

The question still reminds...
Who was Isaac Lankford?

Was he Isaac Jr. named after his father?
Who would have been named Robert Louis Isaac Lankford to be a junior?
Could he have been Addison and not Isaac?
Addison's middle name Louis....

Or did Robert Louis Lankford have another son?
Or was Isaac, Robert Louis' other name?

While On The Journey
Who Was Isaac Lankford Jr.?

It's still a mystery

Blessings,
Susan