FAMILY HISTORY SEARCH 2 YEARS LATER

Permelia Minnis Roberts, daughter of Edward "Ned" Minnis and Duphena Bass Minnis, wife of William Doral Roberts. She was born in 1861, in Oakland, Illinois.
Charles Edward Minnis, born in 1869, and is the son of Edward Minnis and Duphena Bass Minnis. He married Francis McPherson and Capitola Taylor.

+ This is a picture of Edward and Duphena Bass Minnis's daughters. L- Jerusha Minnis Bowen-wife of Thompson James Bown, Permilia Minnis Roberts-wife of William Doral Roberts, Fannie Tyler- wife of Milton Tyler, and Jenette Minnis Walden-wife of Simeon Walden.

This is a picture of William Doral Roberts, born in 1852, in Linton, Vigo, IN.

Wow, it's been two years since I've updated this blog. A lot has happened in my quest to search out my family history. Many of the questions I posed in the beginning have been answered. I now have over 4,000 people in my Ancestry.com family tree. Hmm.

Edward Minnis, my 3 greats grandpa whose story absolutely drove me crazy. I never found his father, but I think the mystery of his mother has been solved. It came from that 1860 census, the one that at first I couldn't find because he was not only listed as being white, but he also not listed in the home of his wife, Duphena "Emily" Bass and their children. Instead, I found him in the household of Melissa Olmstead and Lucy Dupee. Also listed, were Melissa's children by her husband, William, and Lucy (Minnis) Manuel. Lucy, I had earlier determined was the sister of Edward. She'd married George Manuel, but why wasn't she listed in her husband's home with her children?

That's where help came in. Two fantastic women helped me find the answer. It turns out that Melissa Olmstead, born in 1810 in Kentucky was the daughter of Lucy Dupee, born in 1790 and Edward Dupee, born 1787. Melissa and her mother were listed in Edward Dupee's will. I think the reason Edward and Lucy Minnis were in Lucy Dupee's household was because they were the grandchildren of, and named after, Lucy and Edward Dupee. And Melissa was their mother or aunt. I wish I had a time machine and could go back and ask, but I can't. But given that these families remained together in Brushy Creek from the 1840's to 1879 when the emmigrated to Kansas, I believe they were tied by blood.

Another dead end that chewed on me for a long time was that of Archable Roberts (father of William Doral Roberts). I traced his wife Evaline to her father Joseph Artis. His father, Archibald Artis, who fought in the civil war and all the way back to Hester Artis, born in 1687. Her mother was Katherine Anderson, born in 1670. Katherine Anderson and her children were freed by John Fulcher. Archable, born in 1814, was descended from the Roberts family but who his parent were was a mystery until this year. Again, I had the help of a distant cousin. She found his parents free papers. His father was Benjamin Roberts and Sally Archer Roberts. Benjamin's dad was Ishmael Roberts, born in 1750, and his grandmother was Margaret Roberts, born in 1725. Sally Archer was the daughter of Keziah Corbin and Thomas Archer.

Many thanks go to Paul Heinegg for his research on these Free African American Families in Colonial North Carolina and Virgina.

Bass Family verified

I received the probate records for Jethro Bass and he is the father of my Emily. Edward Minnis is also listed in the probate record for Jethro and Polly. I have not been able to locate Polly's family. She is a Mitchell. I think her mother may be Abigail, but I will need to get documentation for that. It seems the families intermarried quite a bit. The Anderson's married into the Bass family, so I have Kate Anderson as a double grandmother (I guess that is what it is called) on the Anderson and Artis side. I also have William and Catherine Lanier doubled since their sons William and John fathered children who were father and grandmother of Prudence Bass, Jethro's mother.

Confused yet? Yeh... so am I.

The most interesting thing that has happened occurred Friday. You see, I work in an office in a small town in California. I'm not from this area but have migrated here like a lot Californians. One of the women I work with is also working on her family tree. Now my friend and I have similar in interests. We are obviously in the same job field and enjoy our work. She's Caucasian and I'm African American and as we've researched our family history we have been able to learn about the cultures of our ancestors. We talk about her Mormon family ties and how difficult it was for one of her grandfathers who lost a secession of wives to death due to illness, some in the same Cholera outbreak that took Elizabeth Lee. I've talked about my difficulty in finding my ancestors who may have been slaves (like Edward Minnis who I'm still stuck on)

My friend and I were both were surprised and excited to discover the family history of Emily and Jethro Bass. And my friend shared her own excitement and frustration when she found an ancestor who may have been a slave, but hasn't been able to trace her back past the 1840 census. After speaking with the family, she learned that there may be African American and Native American ancestry in her family.

This has been the best part! Most people have no interest in genealogy. Even people in your own family have no interest in genealogy. My husband has absolutely NO INTEREST in genealogy, though he is kind to pretend that he does. So having a friend who shares and interest in genealogy and having someone to talk to about and blogging about this (ok, I admit it's an obsession) has been rewarding.

Every day my friend and I discuss the information we found the night before while working on our tree. We brainstorm when we are stuck, vent when we are frustrated and congratulate each other when we have found a broken link in our chain of ancestors. Friday was no different.
My friend mentioned she had found a new thread that she was following by the last name of Jordan. Which seemed familiar, but you know how it is when you do a tree that someone else has already researched. At times the names seemed to blend together until you loose track of who you are because it seems so removed. This was the way this name seemed to reverberate in my head. I knew it seemed familiar but I couldn't remember how.

So, I looked it up and sure enough I had Jordan's in my tree as well. The problem was that the spelling for the Jordan's changed... I had Jordaines and she had Jourdaines. Turns out it didn't really matter because the wife of my Robert Jordaine and her Robert Jourdaine was the same Jane Coker.

So to sum it up...

Robert and Jane Jordaine had two son's, John and Thomas. Each boy married and had a child, who married... and so on until five hundred years later you reach my friend and I who it turns out are not only co-workers...but we're also thirteenth cousins twice removed (I think). Cool huh?

The MYSTERY of Emily is solved!

Wow, it's been a while since I've updated this blog. Things have been spinning since this time. I was a littled burned out back in January and was stuck with no new information. I watched the PBS series "African American Lives II", and hearing the stories was so inspiring. One of my cousins did the DNA testing and it came back that her mother's, mother, so on was from Cameroon, Africa.

I contacted the Vigo County Library, in Indiana to get copies of some marriage certificates I had found. One request in particular, which at the time I thought nothing would come of it, was for a marriage between an Edward Minnie and Duphena E. Bass, in Vigo, Indiana.

Well, I recieved my copies, which only cost a dollar, and almost passed out!

The marriage record is for an Edward Minnis who married Duphena Emily Bass in 1856. Yep, for some reason he left Illinois and went to Harrison Twp, Vigo, IN and married Emily. Another coincidence is that there is a Wheeler Minnis that lived in Harrison, and was found in the 1850 census, but in the 1860 census his wife and only a few of the kids are in Norfolk, Virgina. Maybe related?

Anyway, to continue:
I began researching census records for Vigo, and come across an Emily who fits the age of my Emily. Her father is Jethro Bass. I was able to trace the Bass family back, I mean way...back in time....well, let's just say I'm now in 1001 AD, in Normandy, France. I thougth I was was overwhelmed before, but now I swimming in a sea of disbelief.

I've found that I may be related to an Earl, a Comte, and the family comes from England, France, Italy, Morrocco, Scotland. So far, I have yet to find my African ancestor, unless the Italian of Moorish/Jewish ancestry counts. He by the way was from a famous musician family.

Anyway, I'm trying not to get my hopes up too much. The problem with ancestry is that though there is a lot of information available, not all of it is accurate. I will be pretty busy trying to find sources for these possible ancestors and making sure birth dates match. I also am trying to find probate records or any documentation that confirms that my Duphena Emily Bass is the daughter of Jethro Bass, from whom all this information stems.

Wish me luck!

BURN OUT

After logging all the new information I had received on various sides of the family tree, I needed to take a break. I was totally burnt-out. Each time I contemplated sitting at the computer and entering more data, I swear, the thought of it filled me with nausea... or the reaction stemmed from the fact that I had contracted the stomach flu which has been going around. Either way no computer for me. So today, I finally logged on and weeded through the 256 messages in my email and have read some of the words of support from family members who appreciate that I'm working on our family history, and I feel rejuvenated.

But, still not ready to do data entry, yuck!. I had mentioned that my mother sent a huge packet of information on the family, well for some reason, I felt it necessary to scan all the pictures and log all the names. And after all that work, I'm still stuck! Same questions, very few answers on the puzzles of the past.

In the papers I received there were a couple of clues. There was a marriage certificate for one of the Dotson's that listed his mother's name as Elizabeth Buzzby. This is the "Blackfoot" grandmother, known only as Charlotte, who traveled by wagon train to Kansas. According to her son, my uncle she was unable to speak English. She was born in Louisiana and was found with her husband Jordan Dotson in Columbus, Lowndes, Mississippi in 1870. Prior to that there is no record that I have found. I learned from someone else researching the Dotson's that they were Creek, and that some were slave owners who after the war traveled with their slaves West. Some settled in Utah, and some stopped along the way. Jordan and Charlotte were listed as black on the 1970 census and were living in a predominantly African-American neighborhood during that time. So with the addition of her maiden name I began to search for Buzzby's or Busby's from Louisiana. So far, I'm still stuck.

Also listed in the papers was that Edward Minnis' wife's maiden name was Bass. I asked my mom and aunt where the maiden name came from but they could not remember. They had done their research ten or more years ago, and couldn't remember where they found the info. I decided to run the name Bass with Edward Minnis ancestries data base and found a marriage in Indiana for a Duphena E. Bass to an Edward Minnie (hopefully a typo).

This is the same town that the Roberts (who are related to William Roberts) moved to. I contacted the Vigo County Library and for a dollar they will send copies of all the marriage certificates that I found in Ancestry. So I'm getting that one as well as the marriage certificates for Archable Roberts and Eveline Artis. Hopefully, there will be some information listed on them that will help in the search. I found out from the librarian that Indiana did not keep birth or death certificates back in the 1840's. I also began searching in Indiana for an Emily Bass, and funny enough I found one. Even more interesting I was able to trace the family back the same way I did the Artis line using Mr. Heinegg's book. So now all I have to do is wait to see what the marriage certificate says to know whether I'm even on the right track. I could still be completely off base, and Elizabeth Ann Lee is Emily (doesn't it flow well).

I bought a book called "Southern Seed, Northern Soil" about the Roberts who came from North Carolina and settled in Indiana. It mentioned that they had to take their free-papers and provide them to the County Clerk when the left North Carolina and then when they settled in Indiana. I will see if I can track down Archable that way. I forgot to ask the librarian if they had those on record when I called her about the marriage certificate.