A Revisit....

So a long while ago (October of 2009 to be exact) when my Grandma was still living and helping me with my research, a question loomed in my mind about my Grandfather, William P. Bellew (b1917 d1975). He was a WWII vet, decorated for his time in the military and even a purple heart recipient. My question to her was "why was he not buried in Arlington?" So I asked and she replied that she was told he didn't qualify. The funeral home told her this, yet the obituary stated he was being buried in Arlington. I'm curious - would the funeral home do this to a grieving widow and if so, why? Do they not get their money if the military takes over the burial? This would be the only reason I can think of that they would do this to her, and more importantly HIM. He deserved to be buried in Arlington. 

Here's my original post on this subject - and here's a post about his medals - which I had to fight to have replaced but was successful. I did some research back then, trying to find the qualifications on burial at Arlington and that information was readily available on their website, of course he qualified so again... why no burial there? The funeral home had long since closed up or was taken over by another and I couldn't get any information on that and I never pursued it with them or the military. 

This week, while chatting with my Mom the subject came up again. I explained to her what grandma had told me way back all those years ago and she said that my brother (a veteran himself) is going to pursue some avenues to look into it. Aha yes! I am hopeful that we can get some answers!

 

Can I clear out the cobwebs this time?

Wow..  two years has passed (AGAIN) and here we are. 

Today I came across a post on Facebook in my memories, it was a visit I had made to a cemetery 14 years ago - a cemetery in the woods in beautiful West Virginia. On a cold day, with not too much time my husband and I made a trek to find them, my family. Seeing that post and reading the corresponding blog entry sparked something in me. My search for the family, the days when I would actively chase them down to make a connection. I missed that. It brought back memories of sharing my finds with my parents and grandmother (and anyone else who would listen).  Visiting my blog...  dusty OLD thing that it is, and reading over old posts and things I was researching and questions I had - many of which still exist, I need to get back to it!   I think the last time I wrote was during the release of the 1940 census, almost 10 years ago!  Now the 1950 is out there and I've got some catching up to do!  Having let my ancestry subscription lapse many years ago, I'm digging around other sites to see what's new. And I'm still frustrated that I haven't found Grandad in 1940. 

It's funny because I've had a new found interest in my genealogy research lately, maybe re visiting this old place will continue that rekindle.  This fall I had the joy of a lovely visit from a 2nd cousin who lives in England.  We've been in contact for many years.  Sharing finds and secrets and family lore. I just love that she came here to our home and spent a day with us.  It was a wonderful visit, and I'm so thankful.  She shares with me all the knowledge from her side and together we have tried to solve the mystery of my great uncle John who remained in England when his family came to the US in the 1920s. Much of his life is a mystery and sadly we may never have any further details but it keeps me intrigued nonetheless. 

Other updates - If you look on the right margin of my blog, you'll see that I was previously actively searching for my cousin Brenda. It was a frustrating topic and I looked for her for many years.  In 2014 I finally managed to track down her son, who sadly was also looking for her.  After much digging and tapping on the keyboard I managed to track her down in Colorado, but no phone numbers were listed but I had a name!  Anyway, armed with her (several) AKAs I found her in the SSI and realized that it was too late, she had passed. Having to be the one to tell her son was so hard for me.  He hadn't seen her since he was three, no news, no communication, no understanding. I was sad to tell him. 

Not the ending I had hoped for, but at least now I know what became of her. Sadly she didn't have a happy life, didn't have a happy ending. She passed a few years before I managed to track down her location, but something tells me that she didn't want to be found, having escaped her past. I'm sad about it, I often think of her still and wonder what demons she was battling in her short lifetime. Sadly I'll never know, although some who knew her have shared with me some of her struggles and challenges. I will always wish that I had been able to catch up with her, chat with her, and hug her.  Rest in peace Brenda, you aren't forgotten. 

You may also note that I was seeking information on my uncle Hugh Bellew.  Sadly, I've found nothing and may never find anything further for him.  But I always check the databases, always enter his name, trying to find one little tidbit for my Mom who never knew what happened to him, something Grandma always asked about when speaking of the family. 

So lately I've been adding to my tree on FamilySearch, utilizing the tools there to make further connections and see what info is available on the site. I love connecting the dots but feel like I have become a bit robotic in my searching and I'm hoping that telling the stories again, the thing that I love about doing this research in the first place, will help me get back into a more human approach to my research. Too many "automated" things in our lives, the need for instant gratification, computer generated transcriptions and the ability to add info at the click of a button has removed the human touch for me. I need to get back to building their lives.  I remember when I first started, with all my info in a notebook, and most of it committed to memory because I had to actively search for it, dig it out, seek and find, make note of it, visit it again to connect the dots. I hope to make more connections, I hope to find Grandad in 1940 and I hope to find more cousins near and far to share with.

What happens when you go away for a while?

I doubt there's anyone who reads any longer...  and that's okay.  Afterall I didn't start the blog all those years ago (2009 I believe) because I needed or wanted people to read. I made a lot of friends, met lots of cool folks and worked on my family stories as much as I could. Then... well, life happens. Five kids, all at home at the time and two of them barely out of diapers... sports... high school activities, college, elementary school 'stuff'.  Yeah, my research, writing and everything that goes along with it went by the wayside. 

So, I'd like to work again on MY stuff and I've forgotten how to use the platform. It appears totally foreign to me...  here we go! 

To the Veterans in my family, past and present

In honor of those in my family who served in our military, in the past and in the present. 

My Dad, Donald F. Keener

United States Marine



Grandfather Leonard C. Anderson

Army

Served during WWI



Grandfather William P. Bellew

Army Air Force

WWII

Purple Heart Recipient

Uncle Vernon Lewis Keener



Uncle Carl W. Poates (born as Carr Anderson)



For privacy reasons, I will not post photos of living relatives who were, or are currently in the military but I will say..

Thank you to my brother Dale for his service in the Army, time in Iraq & your continued service

Thank you Uncle Jack for your long service in the Army and your time in Vietnam

Thank you to my nephew Greg for your service in the Army and time in Iraq

Thank you to my nephew Danny for your service in the Marines and time in Afghanistan

Thank you to my cousin's husband Andy for your service in the Army and time in Iraq

Thank you to my husband's uncle Johnny for your service in the Army and time in Iraq

Thank you to my nephew Christopher for your service in the Marines 

Thank you to all military personnel and veterans for your service, past and present!  



He was "lost" in the 1940 Census

This week the 1940 U.S. Census Community Project Blog challenges it's Ambassadors to write a post about someone in the 1940s.   During my search for information on my family in 1940, I began to realize that while I have tons of information on my family, I took a few shortcuts in my gathering of history on one of them and found that I had lost him in 1940.  My story isn't about what I know, but more about what I didn't know, and should have.

When the 1940 U.S. Census was released,  most of us were busy preparing ahead of time - gathering addresses and enumeration districts to be ready for the 'big day'.   Myself, I had two families in the front of my mind, my Dad (this would be his first census appearance) and my Grandmother on my Mother's side, who would be making her THIRD appearance in the census.   My Grandmother is still living, born in 1917, she turned 94 years old this past November and I planned to call her and get the information I needed and I couldn't wait to show her yet another census with her family listed.  

The day of the release was busy, so I ended up calling her Tuesday morning and we chatted for a while on the phone as I pricked her memory of her early adult years.   "Oh 1940, we would have been living on Hoosac Street in Adams" she says.  "I remember because we lived way up on top of a hill and there weren't many houses up there on one side of the street."  I asked her for the nearest cross street - Summer Avenue was her reply.  The family of her husband (Bellew) was also living in Adams, but I didn't ask her for their information just yet, sometimes baby steps are better with Grandma's memory as she can get family members mixed up at times.

Armed with the information for the Leeming household,  I found the ED and quickly started scanning the images looking for her family - funny thing, I wasn't looking for my Bellew family but lo-and-behold the name jumped out at me from the screen and I realized that I had stumbled across them by total accident. Then my questions began -  my Grandfather was not in the home with his parents - where on earth was he?  I quickly called Grandma again:
"Grandma, where on earth was Granddad in 1940?"  
"Well, let me see...  his family would have been living on Allen Street" she said
"Yes, I see that because I found them there,  but he is not in the house with his parents, only his two brothers were listed there, where was he."
"Oh?"   "Well he must have already been in DC, working at the Embassy"
"Wait, WHAT?"

Okay, so I knew that he had worked in DC at the British Embassy for a period, but I did not know when in his lifetime he had done this - assuming (incorrectly) that it was after WWII, but honestly I never really asked.  I knew that my Grandparents met in Adams, married in 1941 in Adams,  had their children in Adams in the 1940s; I knew that he had registered for the Army at the start of WWII in Adams, and that he returned there when he was wounded. I also knew that they had at some point lived in DC...  but I had made assumptions, incorrect assumptions that is. I quickly realized that I needed to make a better timeline for my Grandfather, a man who I had done much research on and had well documented his military history, but I didn't have any "order" to his life.  In 1940 he was lost to me - I hadn't any idea what to think of this.  I'm not some disorganized buffoon, I've been doing this for almost 20 years..  yet Granddad was lost in 1940.   Yes, I am a disorganized buffoon!

So I've begun building his life on a timeline (again), and I found that indeed this thought had occurred to me previously and I had started to make one - I obviously needed to fill in some of the blanks and get things straight.  I have visited with Grandma this week - again pricking her memory for the details.  While I've done this many times before, I find that I always learn a few new things every time.   I still have not found the household where my Grandfather was living in 1940, I am sure he is there... somewhere, and I will find him!


Have you found your family or are you waiting for a searchable index?  If so, I would like to say that indexing is a fun and worthwhile activity for all of us.  The more of us who help out, the more quickly it will be done!  I began a few days after the release, and it's fun to watch your accuracy numbers, and talk with others who are doing the same on the project's facebook page.  Visit the The 1940 U.S. Census Community Project  for information on how to get started.  You might just help someone else who has found that their family was lost in 1940.



Participation disclosure: As part of the1940census.com ambassador program, this blog post enters me into a drawing for a visa gift card.

The First Step - Admit You Have a Problem

Obviously by now, if you're a regular reader of genealogy blogs or even watch the news, you're already aware that the 1940 US Census was released on April 2nd. For the seasoned researcher, this was like a gift that we've waited 10 years to see and for some it came with disappointment, while others were cheering and squealing with excitement at their desks that day. My personal search of the census came with a bit of disappointment as a famed family "secret" was well kept when the enumerator came to the house - but that story is for another post.

On the day of the release, after doing my initial search and then walking away from my computer disgusted, I returned and started reading up on what other bloggers and friends were finding.  Someone posted a link to  The 1940 Census Community Project Blog where news about the release was being shared. I read posts about the 1940s people, news and culture, indexing the census and how to search it - soon I was recharged by the excitement and went back to looking at the census.   In the days following the release they have posted information on famous people in the census and where to find them, as well as contests for indexers to participate in.  I suggest you visit the blog, subscribe and share the content - its a great read and will keep you up to date on all things "1940 US Census".  

Now for my first step - admitting I have a problem.. As I looked through pages and pages of different districts in different states, I became enthralled by the names and places and soon I was signing up to do some indexing - something I had never considered before thinking surely I didn't have time for it. Seriously?  I can barely squeeze out a blog post these days.  At heart I am a data entry geek, love entering data & always have, so this was actually right up my alley - maybe a little too much

"My name is Cindy and I'm addicted to indexing census data."  I cannot stop, every waking moment my computer calls to me.  That little whisper in the back of my mind asking "wonder what states are available now?"  I began working on Colorado & Kansas - states that I had no family in, but then Virginia came up and soon Maryland and Massachusetts.  While I really try to work on the batches that they have labeled "Highest Priority", it's difficult not to grab a batch from a state that you're interested in now and then.  If you like this sort of work I highly recommend it and even if you don't, won't it be great when the entire census is on line and indexed?  All genealogists should take part in this project. Our "community" always helps the other researcher from time to time - certainly we can all take a little time and help index the census.  After all, every one of us will benefit from it and even if you can only spare an hour a day, it's time well spent.


As part of the1940census.com ambassador program this blog post enters me into a drawing for an ipad

Happy Birthday Grandma Keener Feb 11, 1924

Edna Reba Keener 11 Feb 1924 - 17 Jan 1995
Her son Jerry Keener 14 Jul 1942 - 22 Mar1983
photo taken in late 1940s 

My Grandma Edna Keener was a strong woman. Her mother died when she was only 9, the oldest of 8 children. Having her own first child at 14, raising three sons along with the many siblings in the home - it must've been a very difficult life for her. As an adult, she worked in some kind of electrical assembly job for most of her life and took care of her husband who was almost 30 years her senior.

Grandma lived nearby when I was young, I recall sunny days on her back porch, in the garden, playing in the yard that seemed so enormous to me. Her kitchen was giant and it seemed she always had something cooking (we were probably there for meals most of the time). Her dining room walls were covered with collected plates and was rarely used, except to pass through to the front of the house. As a child I didn't notice, but whenever I smell old books, or a damp basement - you know that smell? I remember her home smelled just that way.

Edna Keener and her sister Virginia Anderson
photo taken in early 1980s

Grandma moved away when I was in my early teens and I only saw her once or twice when I was an adult,  Too bad that I didn't realize the things that were slipping away at the time - the things that now I would love to talk to her about, her memories, her family, her life.



I am told that I resemble her, tell stories the way she did, and often make facial expressions that were just like hers. Strange how you do those things when you really didn't "know" a person, or spend any time with them to pick up habits such as these.

The last time I saw her, she was on her deathbed. Only a few weeks before she passed away. Oh, the things I wish I had asked! Grandma died on January 17 1995. She was 70 years old. Today would be her 88th birthday.

Happy Birthday Grandma, you're always in my heart!

Wordless Wednesday

John Jerry Keener b. 1942 d. 1983

Advent Calendar of Christmas Memories - Dec 8, Cookies

Nothing makes me happier than giving tins of Christmas cookies to friends and neighbors. Having four girls in the family, there's always a helper around when it's time to spend a day baking cookies, sprinkling the sugar, placing the little decors around or taste testing. Neither of my Grandmothers were big on making Christmas cookies. I have my paternal grandmother's cookbooks - most recipes are for dinner meals and how to cook on a budget. But, my Mom? She was all about making Christmas cookies and decorating them with little intricate decorations.

While I don't have any photos of them unfortunately, some I can clearly remember. Mostly she made cookie cutter cookies - carefully assembling holly leaves with green icing and little red balls, wreaths with silver balls and little red bows, She also made angels and I think her favorites were the stained glass cookies. Mom also made miniature pecan tarts that were absolutely wonderful. Itty-bitty crusts filled with yummy sticky goodness! One of my favorite cookies that she made was her cranberry cookies which were always a staple this time of year.

With my own children we've made many different things over the years. Our favorites are Russian Tea Cakes, and little decorated spritz butter cookies made from a cookie press (pictured above) - how did I ever live without that? While they're not an intricate cookie-cutter cookie, they're yummy, easy to decorate, easy to make and come in large batches so you can make multiple designs in one batch. We also enjoy making fudge, mint bark candy, little minty snowmen (pictured here), peanut butter buck-eyes, peanut butter cookies, and lots of different breads (banana, cranberry and pumpkin). We make lots and lots of this stuff and then pack up tins or plates to share with neighbors, friends, teachers, bus drivers and the milk man.

I'm sure that all of these holiday goodies will be remembered by my own kids, but most of all the memories of cold days spent in the kitchen together making them.

Advent Calendar of Christmas Memories Dec 4th Christmas Cards

Christmas cards are wonderful things. I love finding a pile of them in my mailbox during the early weeks of December. Sadly, it's too often that this is the only time we hear from some distant relatives and friends.  We hang ours on a pantry door in the kitchen, enjoying them through the month and adding to them everytime we get another greeting in the mail. In my parents home we did a similar thing, there was a louvered door in their kitchen and the cards easily slipped through it, overlapping each other and filling the door throughout the season.

Now that I have my own family, I do send cards every year to close friends and family. My Mom always sent cards - when I was old enough to help I seem to remember hundreds of them - possibly I just didn't want to help and the task seemed endless :) My own family now sends about 30-40 cards a year.

What do you do with them when Christmas is over? I'm sure that there are some who pack them away every year and others who simply keep any photos sent and drop the cards in the trash. Thankfully, my great-grandmother Margaret McCann Bellew kept some very special Christmas greetings sent from her husband John Bellew while they were apart - she in England with two children and her husband here in the US with another of their sons, building their new life.

While these cards are not what we see today in typical Christmas design, they are beautiful and contained hand-written notes of Christmas greetings from her husband and a son that went ahead with him to the US.

I was unable to scan these cards - they are not made of paper, but rather the fronts are some type of plastic material that is very fragile at this point, so I photographed them some time ago, and they have been put away for safe keeping. The embroidered one in the back appears to have more of a Christmas design and the greeting inside is as follows:

From Your Loving Husband and Son Willie

To Wife and Children
25th Dec 1923

When she finally joined her husband in the US, Margaret had the terrible misfortune of leaving one of her sons (John) in England. This must have torn at her heart for her entire life. When he was older, he sent Christmas greetings from England to his parents:

After seeing these cards in Margaret's things, I knew that she loved them and I will hang onto them and preserve them as best I can for future generations.

Advent Calendar - December 3, Tree Ornaments

So my dates are a bit off and I'm a few days behind, but I wanted to share this post from last year.

Christmas is a magical time - excitement, anticipation and many enjoyed festivities go along with the season, making it a wonderful time to share with family. Nothing gets that excitement started like decorating the house and putting up the tree. I remember as a child growing up, after the Thanksgiving turkey was put to leftovers and the pumpkin pie was gone, it was time to decorate for Christmas!

The tree trimming was my primarily Mom's job, but we all enjoyed looking through the ornaments, straightening the branches of our tree and helping to hang them all. In our family every child got a new ornament every year. My parents carefully put our names and the year on the ornament somewhere. In those earlier years our tree didn't really have a "theme" but was more of what I would call a children's tree. After all, Christmas was all about the children. There were a few sets of glass ornaments that my parents had purchased over the years and we always hung those as well. Over time, there were less and less of them, as various ones got broken. I have two or three such ornaments from those glass bobbles that belonged to my parents when they first started their lives together. These are among my most cherished ornaments and I put them on my tree every year.

On the first Christmas after moving from my parents home Mom pulled all of my ornaments from her boxes and gave them to me - giving me a collection of ornaments to start decorating my own tree.

This Santa is plastic, covered with thin felt and is from 1974 and the Pooh below is from 1978. My children give me a hard time about these every year - "Here Mom, it's that old Santa"

 

When my paternal Grandmother passed away in 1995 I received very few of her Christmas decorations. But among them was this ornament which I have carefully put on my tree every year ever since. I haven't any idea where she got it and I had never seen anything like it but it too is one of my most cherished.

Every year my ornaments get a little older and every year we add new ornaments to our tree for each of our children. My Mom still gives me (and my kids) a new ornament every year. When they grow up I hope that they enjoy taking them out every year, remembering the times we had trimming our tree and adding to their collections for their own children, keeping the family tradition alive.

It's my Blog's Birthday & Happy Thanksgiving Everyone!

Happy Thanksgiving to all of my family, friends and readers! Thanks for following me! 

This photo was taken on Thanksgiving 1957 - look at those mashed potatoes! Getting ready for the feast are: left Pauline Keener Harrington & Joe Harrington, at the back Leonard C. Anderson, on the right are an unknown female and Russell Keener

Happy 3rd Birthday to my blog!  I am so thankful to all the folks who have followed me, contacted me and become my friends.   The genealogy blogging community is a wonderful group to be a part of.



To the Veterans in my family - past and present

In honor of those in my family who served in our military, in the past and in the present.

My Dad, Donald F. Keener

United States Marine



Grandfather Leonard C. Anderson

Army

Served during WWI



Grandfather William P. Bellew

Army Air Force

WWII

Purple Heart Recipient

Uncle Vernon Lewis Keener



Uncle Carl W. Poates (born as Carr Anderson)



For privacy reasons, I will not post photos of living relatives who were, or are currently in the military but I will say..

Thank you Uncle Jack for your long service in the Army and your time in Vietnam

Thank you to my nephew Greg for your service in the Army and time in Iraq

Thank you to my nephew Danny for your service in the Marines and time in Afghanistan

Thank you to my cousin's husband Andy for your service in the Army and time in Iraq

Thank you to my husband's uncle Johnny for your service in the Army and time in Iraq

Thank you to my nephew Christopher for your service in the Marines (just completed basic)

Thank you to all military personnel and veterans for your service, past and present!  





Throwing in the towel? Nah, just needed a bit of breathing space!

This poor, neglected blog!

I have actually been doing research - in my "spare" time (that is, during the wee hours of the morning).   Between the 4 kids at home and one off to college this year, I have been one busy Momma! So yeah, I've been digging up info but haven't had the time or the drive to write.    I've also been teaching adult education for a few months, something I've always wanted to do.  The class topic?  Genealogy of course!  This has been a wonderful outlet for me and helped me meet some fantastic people right here in my own town who enjoy this wonderful hobby.   I am hopeful that we will continue to share, meet and help each other with our research.   

In the meantime, I would really like to revisit my blog and actually start writing again, that is if I can  find that spark to share that seems to have left me after my father died.  

So, if you used to read regularly or if you've just started following,  please come back and read again.  I have so missed this!

Military Monday - Comparing WWII Journals

Researching my Grandfather's WWII history has been a very rewarding endeavor for me.  Looking for the records, finding his discharge paperwork, obtaining his medals, reviewing hometown newspapers for information - all of these things were very worth while.  Lucky for me, he kept a bit of a journal during his time in the Army Air Force and noted the dates he flew on missions, what the target was, the flying altitude, and other details about the weather and enemy fighters encountered etc.  This gave me more of the story behind his time in England, but didn't offer up many details in the way of actual "stories" of his missions.

I was contacted by another researcher last fall for more information on his missions.  It seems our two Granddads had fought together.   He was interested in the journal, to enable him to order mission reports for specific dates.  I provided the information I could and one entry intrigued me (below) and I asked that if he did get mission reports would he mind sharing information with me on this particular mission.

June 25th, 1944 - 16th mission
Target - X
300-500 feet
light flak
2 FW 190S Fighters
9 hours 

About a week ago I received an email from the other researcher. Seems he's been doing his homework and reaching out to others in the same squadron. Luckily, a family member of another serviceman in the same squadron had yet another journal - with an entry for the same date...

Ate at midnite, took off at 4 am for S.W. France with 10 parachute bundles of supplies. Dropped them from 300 ft. in a valley between mountains to the French marquis. We were so low, we could see the grateful smiles on their faces as they waved to us. The group was attacked by one FW-190, but P-47's chased him away. Bombardier (Moe) had a close call by flak. Flew as crew in 138 - new ship with only two previous missions on her.

I was so relieved to read that "target X" in my Grandfather's journal was actually a location for a supply drop and not one of their usual missions.  He wasn't looking down at terrified people, but other soldiers who were happy to see them.    All the official documents in the world can't offer up this kind of information - the actual experience of the individual.

Wordless Wednesday

Edna Keener  b. 1924 d. 1995

Taken on the steps of a school in Frederick Maryland 1946

Tombstone Tuesday - And a Mystery - George J. Keener revisited

I posted this tombstone previously in June of 2009.  At the time, I couldn't figure out why the wife was listed - as she was no longer his wife (although I could find no record of her death, so I haven't a clue the circumstances).  

I recently obtained an abstract of his obituary and it left me with even more questions.   So I started at the beginning of his life again and tried to map out what I know about the family.    I am still left with the same questions and cannot seem to solve the mystery of his headstone and his obituary nor find any deaths or burials for his three wives...

George J. Keener was born 26 May 1852 (date according to his death certificate is 1853), to Samuel B. and Mary Johnston Keener of Taylor County WV.   On 12 Apr 1868 he married Tryphenny S M Thomas in Taylor County WV.    In the 1870 census the couple is found living with his parents, along with their new daughter Mary.    I cannot find any further records of this wife in the county or surrounding area. It is assumed that she died prior to 1872...

On 23 Apr 1872 we find another marriage record for George J. Keener and Letis A. Poling.   This union resulted in the following children:  Amos, Nella, Virginia, Isaac, Selena, James, Rachel and Ray.  All of these children were born between 1873 and 1887.    In the 1880 census, Mary (the daughter from his first marriage) was listed in the household of her Grandparents Samuel and Mary. 

In the 1900 census we find George J Keener at the age of 48 with yet another wife, Nora age 27, (aka Honora, Hanolla, Hanna).  Two of the children of the previous marriage are listed in the home (James and Rachel) and he and Nora have another 4 children: William, Samuel, Harry and Clarence.   Another son, Robert would be born later in the year.    

In case you've lost track, thats a total of 14 children born to this man and his three wives.

So where is the confusion or the "mystery?.....   here

 

First problem with the headstone is the year of death.  It appears that it says 1925, but his death certificate issued by the state of WV clearly states March 1, 1926.    The bigger problem with this headstone is that Lettie Keener is noted as his wife when his last wife was Nora (note the certificate states he is a widow so Nora clearly died prior to him) - this would be yet another death certificate that I cannot find.   It is possible that only the children from the marriage to Lettie were involved in his "arrangements", which would also explain the obituary - which left out all of the children born to Nora, listing only his first daughter Mary and the children born to Letting who were still living.


G. J. Keener Passes Away. The Grafton Sentinel. Grafton, WV. March 2, 1926.


Abstract--Geo. J. Keener, s/o Mrs. and Mrs. Samuel B. Keener, died yesterday at the home of his daughter Mrs. H. McWilliams, 720 Pearl Street. Inflamation of the stomach was the cause of death. The deceased was 72 years, 10 months and 2 days old, and had been a resident of Taylor county practically all of his life. He has been in ill health for nine months. He is survived by five daughters, Mrs. David Mowder, Wheeling; Mrs. Irvin F. Kinter, Fairmont; Mrs. Claude Griffith, Mrs. Logan Trader, amd Mrs. H. McWilliams, all of Grafton; two sons, James B. Keener of Fairmont, and A. S. Keener of Grafton, one sister, Mrs. Margaret Utterback of Brownsville, Pa. Funeral services were held in the home of Mrs. H. McWilliams. Interment was in the Philippi cemetery.

This obituary raises yet another question about the interment - George was buried at the Current Cemetery in Taylor County, not at the Philippi Cemetery which is in Barbour County (this would be the county that Lettie's family was from).  

So, please weigh in - why are there no death records for any of his wives?  Can anyone find them?  I have searched the WV Culture site thoroughly, all counties, all dates..   I cannot find anything that fits.  Where are his wives buried?    And something I may never know - why did Lettie's children not list the others in the obituary and why did they put her name on his headstone? 

Extended Family Friday - The Keeners

As this post is written, I have been busy weeding through much information that I have received from another found cousin in my Keener line of the family. First, I must tell you that I met this cousin in a chat hosted by the  Ancestorville Genealogy Facebook page.  If you don't join the chats being held there, you could certainly be missing out!   They have state-focused chats and chances are, if your family has a large presence in a certain state, you may find someone with common research interests.   Such is the case with me and cousin Nancy who I "met" on a recent WV chat.

She has shared much with me already - especially photographs.  She's been researching this family for years and is glad to share her knowledge with me - someone who has not done much on the collateral lines.   Thanks so much Nancy!

Today I highlight her Great Grandfather, my 1st cousin 5x removed; Lewis S. Keener.

Lewis was born in 1841 to Thomas Ullery Keener (aka Ullery Keener; Ulrich Keener) and his wife Sarah Ann Kisner, in Fetterman, a town in now Taylor County WV.    Lewis enlisted as a soldier for the Confederacy on May 13, 1861 and fought for Company A, 25th Infantry Regiment of Virginia and was promoted to the rank of Sergeant on July 9, 1864.     He married Catherine B. Jackson on December 8, 1864, in Abermarle County VA and the couple was listed in the 1880 census for Whitehall, Abermarle, Virginia.   Lewis and his wife had 7 children: James, John, Thomas, Catherine, Mary, Susan and Andrew.    I had not even realized that a very large part of the Keener family had gone to this part of Virginia and a nearby town called Crozet -  assuming (incorrectly of course) that they all remained in Taylor County because I was so focused on my direct line that I've not bothered to see where all the other brothers had wandered off to.

Nancy shared the photo below with me, of Lewis and his brother James Alfred Keener and their wives.

Photo privately held

Yet again, it pays to be a part of the larger genealogy community on the web.  Without reaching out to others, making connections and joining groups or chats, we cannot corroborate or share our research fully with others. 

Wordless Wednesday

Standing:  Pauline Keener Harrington b. 1 Jun 1926; d. 26 Jun 1980

Joe Harrington (husband of Pauline)

Vernon Lewis Keener b. 29 Sep 1930; d. 12 Jun 1997

girl:  Sally Watkins b. 14 apr 1947; d. 15 Feb 2001

Blackie the dog

John Jerry Keener b. 14 Jul 1942; d. 22 Mar 1983