Free Probate Records for Texas

Recently The Ancestor Hunt tweeted that "An often neglected source of terrific genealogical information are Wills and Probate Records. They often provide more information than obituaries. For Texas, there are a total of 114 Free Probate Records and Wills Collections to research."

This was intriguing so I went to the blog to have a look. He has done a lot of work compiling the list and links for Texas! If you have Texas ancestors, follow the links to the free Probate records online on The Ancestor Hunt Blog

Tombstones Uncovered in Back Yard for 3 Children and a Man

A woman in Government Hill, a suburb in San Antonio Texas, was working on landscaping in her yard this week when she found a tombstone for a 65-year-old man about four inches into the dirt. The stone read 

John Evans 

born January 12, 1828

died  July 27, 1893

Aged 65 years

A few years later she dug up another stone with the names of three children, Annie, Philip and Katie, who had died back in 1880s

Continue reading the story at  Government Hill resident finds tombstone buried in yard, and it's not the first

Join Me on a Cemetery Walk Through Panna Maria, Texas

Panna Maria (meaning Virgin Mary) is the oldest Polish settlement in the United States. It is located in Karnes County, Texas, United States. 

Thanks to  Sonja Nishimoto who sent me 262 photographs of tombstones taken by her in 2008, I now have the Panna Maria Cemetery Walk online on Olive Tree Genealogy  YouTube Channel.

Ghost Towns and Graves Discovered

Little Johnny D. Parks was born in 1881. He died a few days before his first birthday. His grave has been at the bottom of Lake Buchannan in Bluffton Texas for over 60 years. But drought is drying up the lake and long-forgotten graves are being exposed.

Over 300 graves were moved in 1931 but some were missed.  The residents of the town moved away and no doubt little Johnny's family died off or moved too. Although it may seem sad, it may be a chance for us to remember little Johnny and others who died so long ago and whose graves have been beneath 30 feet of water for many years.

Read more at Depleted Texas lakes expose ghost towns, graves

Texas Tombstone Found During Construction Returned to Descendants

A tombstone that was discovered beneath an East Texas construction site has been given to a relative.

Ron and Nelda Swinney claimed the stone Monday from the City of Tyler's Engineering Department. The Swinneys live in an area of Smith County along Highway 64, once known as Swinneytown. The Swinneys said they saw the stone on the news and researched to find that the baby's father was Ron Swinney's great-great-uncle.

"We just started having conversations how does this tombstone tie in to your family and they provided a family tree," said Tyler City Engineer Carter Delleney. 

The Swinney stone is now back in the family's hands and will eventually find its way to the Bascom Cemetery to be placed next to the baby's grandfather. Source: KLTV

The child was not quite 3 months old when he died in October 1883.

Read the rest of this story on KLTV at Tombstone discovered at Tyler construction site given to descendants

Credit: image is a cropped screen dump from the online video on KLTV

UPDATE!! Found WW2 Letter from American Soldier Looking for Home

Image captured from wifr.com video

A letter from a WW2 soldier was found in the street and the finder is looking for any family member so he can return the letter.

The letter was written in December 1944 by Sgt Neal K. Moore while he was in England and it is addressed to Miss Bessie Moore of Galena Park Texas. 

So did a bit of sleuthing and found the burial of Sgt. Moore in Oakwood Cemetery, Denison, Grayson County Texas. The inscription reads:

MOORE  NEAL  K                   FEB 26,1914     JAN 12,1945
  SERGEANT, US  ARMY, WW II.  KILLED  IN  BELGIUM, BATTLE  OF  THE  BULGE
[FN1]

Also found on FindAGrave with inscription Veteran of World War II. Sergeant - United States Army. Killed in action - Battle of the Bulge. Serial No. 38043828 Note that the serial number is identical to the serial number on the return address of his envelope [FN2]

In the 1940 census for Denison Texas Neal is found as a single man living with his sister, the widow Georgia Armstrong, at 609 East Munson Street. He works in a cheese factory.

An application in 1947 for a military stone for Neal's grave was submitted by Ernest Moore living in Galena Park Texas. [FN3] I have no doubt he is related, if not to Neal, to Bessie the person Neal wrote to.  

I plan to continue hunting for more details on Neal and on Bessie the woman he wrote to. My hope is that my wonderful readers will jump in and put on their genealogy sleuthing hats!

Oct. 30th : Exciting Update!!

This was posted on Olive Tree Genealogy Facebook page by Debbie DeVore: 

Thanks you guys! Thanks to folks from your group we found out about this last night. My mom is the closest living relative to Neal and Bessie and we are now in contact with the gentleman who found the letter and will be seeing it soon! My mom, Donna Moore DeVore, is 76 and this is the most exciting thing to happen for her in a long while. She had only recently posted info on Neal on her ancestry page. Too cool! 


[FN1] http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~txgrayso/ceme-oakwood5.html 
[FN2] http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GSln=moore&GSfn=neal&GSbyrel=all&GSdyrel=all&GSob=n&GRid=8622560&df=all&
[FN3] Ancestry.com

Help Solve the Mystery: Who Was This Woman?

The Seattle Times

Recently a fascinating yet sad story was posted in The Seattle Times. It's about Lori (Kennedy) Ruff who killed herself in 2010. 

"The death of a wife and mother in Texas revealed a case of stolen identity with a connection to the Northwest. Now a Seattle investigator is trying to figure out who this mystery woman really was."

After her death her husband opened a locked box which Lori had kept hidden. It it he found scribbled notes, birth certificates, death certificates, driver's licenses with his wife's photograph but under different names and in different states.

Eventually Ruff and a Social Security investigator realized they had uncovered a case of a woman who ran from her past and hid under a dead girl's identity. This Tuesday you can join Times reporter Maureen O'Hagan and Joe Velling, Special Agent in Charge of the Seattle investigations office of the SSA, for a live chat and updates about the case at 2 p.m. Tuesday.

Read the full story and see all the documentation and clues at She stole another’s identity, and took her secret to the grave. Who was she?

Ships Passenger Lists at Galveston,Texas 1846 - 1871

Olive Tree Genealogy has just uploaded more surnames for Ships Passenger Lists Arriving at the Port of Galveston,Texas 1846 - 1871

Start at Ships Passenger Lists to Galveston, Texas 1846-1871

This is an ongoing project and will be added to as volunteers finish the lists of names.