Family stories

A long lost second cousin of mine, from San Antonio TX, contacted me when I wrote of our great grandfather we have in common, Charles Herman Miller.

Leslie said she had belonged to Ancestry in the past, and not at this time.  Her grandmother was Rowena Eugenia Miller Rogers.  My grandmother was Mozelle Booth Miller Webb Munhall, sisters.

I loved hearing from Leslie about our g-grandfather, Charles Herman Miller.  She's pretty sure he stowed away on a ship from Germany as a teen to come into the US.  That sure explains a lot of the mistakes in his various census reports as to when he arrived, how old he was, etc.

So I hope she has some more stories to tell.  I won't need to see photos of the graves, since Ancestry usually gives the connecting links to Find-A-Grave sites for people.

But the stories about our actual ancestors, the things that happened that aren't on papers, I can't wait!

Happy birthday ancestors

A great aunt, sister of my mother's mother, Rowena.
And a great times how many grandmother, Catherine Clack Rogers.
My grandfather transcribed the Rogers Family Bible and shared carbon copies with the families of his 4 sons...and he spelled her name Catharine Rogers throughout.

Ada and George Rogers with my sis and myself around 1948

There's a man who wrote about the Rogers family in Sevierville, TN, claiming descendendency from them, who gave Catherine another name before hers, namely Beaula.  Not spelled correctly either, "Beulah" is more common.

But June 23 is Rowena Miller Rogers and Catherine Clack Rogers birthday.  Incidentally, I don't know Rowena's husband's ancestry, so she might be related that way to the other cousins.

Eugenia Booth Miller with my mother next to her and 2 friends, 1922

Wait a moment, I'll crank up AncestryDOTcom, ah there, I'm logged on.  Checking in my mother's tree, let's see if I can find out more.  I have a different tree for my father's mother, (Swasey) my father's father, (Rogers) and my mother, (Booth).

Ada Swasey Rogers with first born son, Elmore in 1906

OK, the function of following "hints" has dried up for me.  I followed Aunt Rowena's husband Robert Shelton Rogers line back to a minister in Mississippi, then to Hamilton County, TN, (where they enacted a law against snake handlers by religious groups) and then back to somewhere in VA.  He doesn't appear to be related to my eastern TN group of Rogers.  This meant his family might well have been related to the Rogers of my tree, but it's so far back it doesn't yet connect.  Maybe someone famous will do it, and then post the information.  And if someone infamous should do it, all the better!

I can live with that.  It's fun to do some research and then let it go.  These folks' bones have been in the ground quite a few years, though apparently some were alive when I was born.  But I've got to remember that I'm now one of the elders...so that's now 71 years ago.