It's Tombstone Tuesday and today I feature a tombstone that is close to my heart -- that of my aunt Martha Ann Browning.
Martha was born in Crawford Co., Illinois on 16 Oct 1934 to my grandparents Virgil Browning and Beulah Garrard. She was their only child until my father came along in 1941.
I've written in more detail about my aunt Martha
and my feelings about her in a previous post about my grandmother's life. You can read it here if you wish so I'll be brief.
Martha was a bright child and a rosy-cheeked girl. She made friends easily and was the life of the party when she was around people. She sang in the choir and when she was in high school, about 1952 or so, someone made a record of one of her songs that I think my father still has. I've heard it and she had a beautiful singing voice. Funny, my dad does too. I wish I could say I inherited that!
She married Oral Oval Cooley on 7 Jun 1953 in Robinson in Crawford County. All the pictures I've seen of the pair look like they were very much in love and my aunt Martha was all aglow. She became pregnant at the age of 19 and gave birth to a son on 30 August 1955. All was not well with her, though, and she began to show complications immediately after the birth. She developed a fever and died at the Allen Sanitarium (a hospital in Robinson IL) three days later due to hemorraging from the birth.
I've posted my favorite picture of my aunt Martha here. She is a real beauty. I see my grandma and my dad in her and she's just....oh, I don't know. Doesn't she just GLOW? Her beauty is within.
I wish I'd known her.
Now to the bits and pieces:
I'll be going on a genealogical trip to Little Rock in a few days along with a friend of mine. Her great-grandfather was murdered there in 1929 and we'll be hitting all the sweet spots when we're there. We'll go to the Arkansas History Commission and the Arkansas County courthouse in Stuttgart. We hope to hit Dewitt (where the murder occurred) and maaaybe even make it to a cemetery or three. For my part, I will be investigating the Strickler family (one of my daughter's lines) who moved to Washington Co., AR from Sullivan Co., TN in the 1830's. I hope to find some wills and other goodies. Our daughters (both age 19) are coming with us so it'll be a girl's weekend as well!
My love affair with OneNote is in full swing. I'm putting records in there and seeing it all come together and I'm really liking it so far. I can feel that this will be a big bonus for my work.
I'm also in heaven -- I've recently found Ohio Probate Records online at Familysearch!!!!
None are indexed and the image count is sky-high but I've been spending my time going through each and every image in the counties of Harrison, Coshocton, Tuscarawas, Jefferson and Washington. As you can imagine this is a tedious and time consuming undertaking. Weeks even! But that's okay -- it must be done because there's no way I'll be getting to any of these counties soon (and even if I did, I'd have to spend days in the courthouses there pouring through the records!)
So -- if my presence is a bit spotty I'm not checking out of here, I'm hopefully adding more information to my arsenal. I've already found some real gems in the OH records that I want to explore.
Oh, and ok....I've also experienced a D'OH moment of epic genealogical fail proportions, so much so that I don't even want to admit to it here for fear that I'll have to turn in my genealogist card and go sit in the back of the class.
*sigh* I'll make myself do it. Just not now. Haha!
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