Ready for the 1940 Census

     I'm very much anticipating the release of the 1940 census. I'm planning to be prepared and have made a list of locations to search just as soon as the records are available. I used the tools at http://stevemorse.org/census to convert the 1930 locations of my ancestors into possible 1940 locations. For the most part my ancestors were farmers who stayed in one place, which will make them easier to find. I do have a few ancestors who I can't find in 1930 or who I know or suspect had moved. They'll prove more a challenge!


Name // 1930 Location // Possible 1940 Location 

Grandparents: 

• Thomas Craft & Sarah Britt Craft // Dist 20, Gaines, Elbert, Georgia // R669 - Dist 52-20, MilD 199 Gaines, Elbert, GA
• Roy Albea // Dist 13, Greenwood, Greenwood, South Carolina // R3815 - Dist 24-15, Greenwood Twp, Greenwood Ward 5, SC
• Betty Huyler (possibly called Whitfield) // n/a // Atlanta?? 

Great-Grandparents: 

• BE & Ruth Craft // Dist 20, Gaines, Elbert, Georgia // R669 - Dist 52-20, MilD 199 Gaines, Elbert, GA
• Ledora Britt // Dist 24, MilD1560, Emanuel, Georgia // R669 - Dist 52-24, MilD 1560, Outside Twin City, Graymont, Emanuel, GA (or poss ED 52-23)
• Nathan Britt // Dist 24, MilD1560, Emanuel, Georgia // Elbert County, GA ??? Dist 52-?
• Vernon & Auline Albea --- see Roy Albea
• Ruby Waters Whitfield ---- see Betty Huyler
• Vary "Mack" Huyler // Augusta, GA? --- 1937 location // R704 - Dist 121-4, Augusta Ward 1, Richmond, GA -OR- R704 - Dist 121-7, Augusta Ward 2, Richmond, GA 

Great-Great Grandparents: 

• Geo Rob't & Effie Craft // ED 56, Birmingham, Jefferson, Alabama // R95 - Dist 68-163, Prect 34 (tract 3), Birmingham, Jefferson Co, AL
• Leila Evans Brown // Dist 20, Gaines, Elbert, Georgia // R669 - Dist 52-20, MilD 199 Gaines, Elbert, GA
• S Frances Barfield // ED 8, MilD 57, Emanuel, Georgia // R355 - Dist 54-8, MilD 57, Emanuel Co, GA
• Nina Albea // ED 13, Greenwood, Greenwood, South Carolina // R3815 - Dist 24-15, Greenwood Twp, Greenwood Ward 5, SC
• Wm D Witt // ED 11, Greenwood, Greenwood, South Carolina // R3815 - Dist 24-13, Greenwood Twp, Greenwood Ward 3, SC
• John & Ida Hyler // ED 29, Lexington, Lexington, South Carolina // R3823 - Dist 32-30, Lexington TWP, Lexington, SC
• Leverett & Louise Waters // ED 35, Atlanta, Fulton, Georgia // R725 - Dist 160-2, Atlanta, Ward 1, Fulton, GA -OR- R725 - Dist 160-3, Atlanta, Ward 1, Fulton, GA

     I also signed up for the 1940 Blog Ambassador Program, part of the 1940 Census Community Project from Family Search.

Dr McDonald's DNA Analysis, Pt 2

     I recently wrote about having my 23andMe raw data analyzed by Dr McDonald. Part of the reason I did this was to see if he could confirm the small segments of African and Asian that showed up in my DNA. He confirmed that they were "small but strong and likely real."  But here's the thing: both my Mom (at 23andMe) and Dad (at ftDNA) show up as 100% European. Where were these segments coming from? I thought that the best way to figure this out was to send him my parent's data as well and to find which one had those same segments in their data.

     My mom's data is from 23andMe. As I said, there she showed up as 100% European, with no other segments. Dr McDonald's results agreed. The only non-European data shows up in her X Chromosome, which he thought was "iffy." Here's her chart:

      Ok, so Dr McDonald has confirmed the interpretation of 23andMe's findings for my mom and myself.

     Next up: my dad's data. I tested my father at Family Tree DNA, where he shows up as 100% European.  But both my parent's can't have 100% European DNA if I have "strong and likely real" segments of African and Asian DNA.  It turns out that my dad does have those segments. I don't know why Dr McDonald found these segments and ftDNA didn't, but they are there. In the same locations as mine, plus some. He has .8% African DNA and .4% Native American (compared to my .6% and .3%). Here's his chart:

   
     So this analysis confirms the rumors of Native American heritage in my Dad's side of the family.  But there was no expectation of African DNA. Apparently though, this isn't uncommon. A lot of people with Colonial American heritage apparently have African segments in their DNA (read about them here on 23andMe's message board or this blog post).

     I wonder if this comes from the same family line or different ones? I wonder if I'll be able to find it? I highly suspect my Barfield family could be the source and I hold little hope of ever tracing that line any further back than where it's stuck in 1852.  Perhaps by testing more of my paternal relatives, I can narrow down the source.

Barfield Family Photos

      I still don't know who their father was, but I do have photos of them! I'm talking about my Great-Great-Great Aunts, Amanda and Josephine Barfield, sisters of my Great-Great Grandfather, William Barfield. I received these photos in my email today, after talking to a cousin on Facebook about the family.

 

     That's Josephine Barfield Kitchen on the left (c1900) and Amanda Barfield Rich on the right (c1905). I'm excited to add these photos to my collection and to learn more about these women. Thanks to Betty, Loretta and Johnny for getting these photos to me.

Two Degrees of Genealogical Separation

     I'm a little late on this, but yesterday's 'Saturday Night Genealogy Fun' theme was 'Two Degrees of Seperation.' The challenge was to see how far back you can connect with an ancestor by just two degrees, as in "you knew an ancestor, who knew another ancestor."

     I only met one of my Great-Grandparents, Ruth Evans Craft, who lived from 1902 to 1999. I believe that I only met her once or twice as a very young child, and I have only a vague memory of it: a little gray-haired lady in a wheel chair between picnic tables.  A few years ago I saw this photo, which matched my memory exactly. It was actually a kinda eerie find actually...

     So, I knew my Great-Grandmother, Ruth Evans Craft. She lived in Elbert and Hart Counties where her family had lived for generations, so she almost certainly knew any of her ancestors who were alive when she was. This would include her Great-Grandparents, her mother's mother's parents, Lewis McCurley and his wife Nancy Shiflet. Lewis lived from 1838 to 1910 and Nancy lived from 1834 to 1911.

     In two degrees of separations, I connect with my four times Great-Grandparents.