A New Marriage for Grandpa Daniel Hill

Well, blow-me-down! Will wonders never cease?

I was just sitting here minding my own business, kinda bored... I opened an ancestry tab on my computer and saw that it was on the profile of my maternal grandfather, Daniel Webster Hill. Just for the heck of it, I decided to do a search to see if there might be anything new on him. I scrolled down the list of results, seeing all the old familiar ones that I've long since vetted, when one "newbie" caught my eye. Hmm... a marriage of a Daniel Hill to a Lizzie Campbell, in 1918, in Newport News, VA.

NEWPORT NEWS, VA? That's where I live! 

I could see from the preview that this Daniel's birthyear closely matched my grandfather's. I also saw that his parents were Henry and Pinkie - too much of a coincidence to ignore... so I decided to check out the document. 

Virginia, Marriage Registers, 1853–1935. Library of Virginia, Richmond, Virginia.

Now, I like to show the whole document, for viewer context, but here are the focal points:

The very first entry on the document shows the marriage of Daniel Hill and Lizzie Campbell, recorded as having taken place on April 21, 1918, in Newport News. Daniel's age is given as 38, which coincides perfectly with his birth year of 1879. His bride, Lizzie, was 32. Daniel is noted to be "single," but Lizzie is widowed, suggesting that Campbell may not be her maiden name. Daniel's birthplace is given as Norfolk, which is not correct; however, he did live in Norfolk, prior to this, so I see this as just a form error.

This is the right-hand side of the form. It's showing that both Daniel and Lizzie lived in Newport News. What??? My grandfather lived here in my city??? I've got some digging to do! But, the real clincher for this - the reason I'm sure this is my grandfather - is the "names of their parents." The husband's parents' names are stated to be Henry & Pinkey Hill. Well, those are Daniel's parents, and I just don't think it's likely that, with all the other facts matching, there would be a "Pinkey" for the mother, whose husband just happened to be named Henry, and it not be my Daniel. Also, as suspected, the wife's parents' surname is Christian, not Campbell. This suggests that Lizzie's maiden name was most likely Christian, and that Campbell was the surname of her late, previous husband.

So many questions!

Well, I've got some work to do! Daniel's occupation is noted to be "Laborer," which could be anything. However, with so many people coming to Newport News, during that time, to work at the shipyard, my first thought is to see if he may have been working there. I'll also have to research the clergyman, W.J. Brown, to see what church he may have been affiliated with, which might lead to more information. And, of course, I'll need to try to obtain a copy of the actual marriage certificate, which as of this writing, I haven't found. However, in seeking the marriage certificate, I did find that Grandpa Daniel's first bride, Lizzie, died just four years after they were married, in 1922, which explains why Daniel was eligible to marry my grandmother, in 1926. Interestingly, Lizzie's surname on the death certificate is given as "Camble" (Campbell), not Hill. The parents of the deceased, Warren and Mary Christian, are the same as on the marriage record for Lizzie and Daniel, so I'm sure this is her. This just fits the pattern of craziness that has been par for the course in researching my elusive grandfather, Daniel Webster Hill.

Death Certificate for Lizzie Camble
Virginia, Deaths, 1912–2014. Virginia Department of Health, Richmond, Virginia.

More to come...

Renate

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#52Ancestors: Week 1 - "Family Lore"

 2024! Happy New Year!

I have not been a good blogger, but I'm hoping to recommit to this platform by participating (once again) in Amy Johnson Crow's "52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks" blogging initiative! Thankfully, Amy gives participants grace - there is no pressure to post every single week. As a matter of fact, we are free to change it to 12 Ancestors in 12 Months - or whatever suits our lives and schedules. I love (and share) Amy's perspective that anything we do is more than we had before! 

The prompt for the first week is "Family Lore," also known as "oral history" or "oral tradition.
No matter what you call it, this is something that I don't have a lot of in my family - especially not in my immediate lines. What I've discovered, through the past 30 years of interviewing relatives, is that even where my family members did have stories, most of of them only contained that tiny "grain of truth" that we all know is usually there. My research has uncovered realities that don't match what has been passed down; and that hasn't made me very popular with some of my family members, most of whom were new to me - discovered as a result of my research and/or dna testing.

Here are just a few of the stories that have been fine-tuned by my work:

1. Oral history:  My second-great-grandmother, Anna Green, was at least 1/2 Native American. Her mother was "full-blooded Indian."

Truth: As uncovered by MtDNA testing done by a cousin who is a confirmed direct female descendant of Anna Green: The MtDNA is from Africa.

2. Oral History: There are three distinct, unrelated groups of black HILL families in Tyrrell County, NC. 

Truth: All of the black Hills in Tyrrell County, NC trace back to one couple, my third-great-grandparents, Charn/Charlton/Charnton/Charleston Hill and Grace/Gracy Bryant, free people of color, born in 1794 and 1800, respectively. The couple had at least 9 known children, from whom all of the resulting Hills in Tyrrell County descend.

3. Several of my GREEN ancestors moved to New York and were living/passing as white and all had white spouses. Another was said to have been doing the same in Florida.

Truth: Although these ancestors certainly looked white, most of the records I've found them in record them as black, mulatto, or Negro. Only one, my second-great-grand-uncle, William A. Green, had consistently ambiguous racial categories, and more often than not, was noted to be white. William was also the only one who actually married white.

               

              This is either Bettie or Ruby Green.

William Adam Green, who served 
in a black regiment during the
Spanish American War, but tried 
to obscure his race in New York.

By the way, the cousin in Florida married a black doctor, who worked in a black hospital, and they had a home in the historical black American Beach. 

4. Oral History: My mother's father abandoned their family before my mother turned four, and they never heard from him again.

Truth: Well, this one is kind of juicy, but I won't go into all the details on this post. My grandfather, Daniel W. Hill, did abandon my mom and their family before my mother turned four, but it turns out he rented a room in the boarding house next to theirs, at least for a while, because my mom's older brother recalled him sitting in an upstairs window "glaring" at them, all the time, and I have a 1937 document (SSA) giving that house as his address. However, he didn't stay there long. My mother lived her entire life believing that her father had just disappeared, never to be heard from, again. But the truth of the matter is that he got involved with another (also married) woman, impregnated her, and then died in June of 1940, one month before my mother's half-sister (who my mother never knew or knew about) was born. My mom was 6 years old at that time.

SS Application of my grandfather, Daniel Hill, showing him living next door to his family in 1937.

5. Oral history: This one is a little different, because the "family lore" actually evolves around the name my father's family has carried, since my great-grandfather, Calvin Yarborough, was emancipated in 1865. Whenever I questioned my late aunt, Susie Yarborough Hawkins, about our family history, she always told me that all she knew was that we "had some connection to the Neals" or that "we were supposed to be Neals." But that was all she would say. She couldn't explain the how or the why of it. 

The TRUTH, in this case, is that we were supposed to be (and are genetically) Neals.  My great-grandfather, Calvin, chose the surname of his last owner; but the rest of his family, from whom he'd been separated, took the name NEAL, which was the name of the family Calvin was born enslaved to. 

                    

If you have a Legacy Family Tree Webinars subscription, you can learn more about this here. 

Well, those are just a few examples of "family lore" that has been been shared with me and debunked, since I started doing this work. Remember that these stories will usually have some bit of truth in them, somewhere, but it's up to us - the researchers - to uncover the truth of each matter, as best we can, using all of the tools we have at our disposal to dig into the past. :)

Thanks for reading!

Renate

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More Questions Than Answers - My Grandfather's Social Security Application

Temporary Joy?
Today, I received a copy of the Social Security Application for my maternal grandfather, Daniel Webster Hill. I was so excited when I got the envelope from my mailbox, especially since I'd kind of forgotten I'd ordered this document. Daniel's life, as well as that of his mother and full siblings, has been challenging to document, either because of conflicting or absence of information.

1937 Social Security Application for Daniel Webster Hill

My hope, when I ordered this document was that it would provide conclusive data, so I was quite excited as I carefully tore open the envelope. Instead, its contents have led me to more questions as I try to uncover the true facts of my grandfather's life.

Dissecting the Document

Out of this entire document, only two items bore no concern; my grandfather's gender (male) and race (Negro). Everything else either provided confirmation of my research or conflicted with previous findings, thus inciting further questions that will need to be answered.

Name (Red):Thankfully, this document confirms my grandfather's full name: Daniel Webster HILL.

Address (Purple and Brown): This was the first issue on the document. The address given is not the address of the home in which my grandparents lived while they were together. Family lore has always been that my grandfather left (abandoned) the family when my mother was 4 and her brother was 7. That would have been sometime between September 10, 1938 and March 23, 1939. However, this application is dated February 25, 1937, which precedes that date range by over a year and a half, making my mother not even 3, yet, and her brother, only 5. The only thing I can think is that perhaps he came back after this date, before leaving for good.

BUT.... there's another thing these two items actually corroborate for me! My late uncle, Howell Hill, who I interviewed numerous times about his and my mother's family and ancestry, told me something I haven't forgotten. In describing what he recalls as a domestic abuse situation between Daniel and my grandmother, Mary, my uncle told me how when Daniel Hill first left them, he just moved into a room in the house next door, and they would see him watching them from an upstairs window. He expressed how afraid this made him, because Daniel Hill "was so mean". Well, I used google maps to look up the address on the SS application, and, lo and behold, 1301 W. 42(nd) St. is right next door (though across a small street) to my grandmother's house, 1273 W. 42nd Street.

In this current-day photo from Google Maps, the house on the left (1273) is the house my mother grew up in. The house on the right (1301) is the house Daniel Hill was living in at the time he filled out his Social Security application. Notice the upstairs side windows on this house, which directly face my grandmother's home, making my uncle's story seem quite likely to be true.

Employment (Yellow/Blue): In 1930, according to the Census, my grandfather was working as a Longshoreman at the Pier (usually meaning Lambert's Point). However, at the time of his SSA, he states that he's unemployed. Could this have been part of the issue that played into the problems he and my grandmother were (apparently) having? Also, Item 13 indicates that Daniel was registered as an employee with the W.P.A., something I wasn't aware of and will need to research further.

Age (Orange): Daniel Hill's true birth year has been an issue since I began researching him, many years ago. It seems that he began using this 1885 birth year around the time he married my grandmother. He was much older than she, so perhaps this was his way of smoothing that out. I really don't know. But, Daniel shows as a one-year-old in the household of his parents in 1880 and, in 1900, he is a boarder in the home of his mother and stepfather, enumerated as 20 years old with a birthdate given as March 1879. It's not until after his 1926 marriage to my grandmother that I first see him being referred to as a younger man -- with his age being enumerated in 1930 as 40, with whoever gave the information stating that he'd been 36 at the time of his first marriage. From this point on, any documents I've found on Daniel Hill give him this younger age.

1880 Census showing one-year-old Daniel W. in the household with his parents and sisters, in Tyrrell County NC. Birthplace is given as North Carolina for the entire family.

Place of Birth (White): I have seen Daniel's place of birth given as Virginia on other documents, but I'm confused about that, since I know the family (both his mother and father) were from North Carolina, and he is enumerated with them, at just one year old, in that state. However, I guess it is possible that his mother could have been in Virginia (for some reason) when he was born, though I really doubt it. He lists "Gilmerton, Norfolk Co., VA" as his birthplace on this application. This is, indeed, where his mother, Pinkey, later lived and ran a boarding house with his stepfather, and where, according to the newspaper announcement of her death, she was buried, but she doesn't appear there before 1900. Perhaps she was visiting a family member at the time of his birth, just as she was at the time of her death? This will require further research.

Death notice from Norfolk, VA Journal and Guide, announcing the death of Pinkie (Hill) Howell

Parents' Names (Green/Pink) - Daniel confirms his parent's names. but with exceptions. His father was known as "Henry" Hill, but his full name was actually Charles Henry Hill. (I think it's quite possible that Daniel may not have known that.) His mother, Pinkie's, maiden name has been another source of confusion. She'd been enslaved on Somerset Plantation, in Creswell, NC, which was owned by the COLLINS family. Her father was Mack TREDWELL, but sometime prior to Emancipation, her mother married a man named Peter KING. Pinkie has been recorded as using each of those surnames on different documents, so it's hard to know which (if either) was actually her "legal" maiden name. It does seem clear, though, that she considered Peter King to be her father figure and that seems to be what Daniel understood, also, according to this document.

Social Security Applications are typically very useful documents for genealogists; however, as this one shows, sometimes that usefulness can provide a mixture of evidence-types for the researcher: direct and indirect, consistent or conflicting, and, sometimes, negative or even absent. A careful researcher will study all of the information on a document, analyzing each item and following up with further research to work towards solving conflicts and/or filling in blanks. This SSA for my grandfather, Daniel W. Hill certainly is leaving me with more work to do, but I am up to and looking forward to the challenge!

Thanks for reading,

Renate

Sources:

 United States Social Security Application, Form SS-5, Treasury Department, Internal Revenue Service: Daniel Webster Hill, February 25, 1937.

United States Federal Census, Year: 1880; Census Place: Scuppernong, Tyrrell, North Carolina; Roll: 983; Family History Film: 1254983; Page: 269D; Enumeration District: 134; Image: 0453.

New Journal and Guide (1916-2003); June 1, 1929; ProQuest Historical Newspapers: Norfolk Journal and Guide, p. 4

Link to Google Maps:

https://www.google.com/maps/@36.8825692,-76.3056901,3a,75y,178.07h,100.97t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1sARZsrxIrOU2ucti0xuZT-g!2e0!7i13312!8i6656

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A Military HERO On My Tree! Ernest Roland Morgan

Up All Night
Wow. I guess there's something to be said for going down a genealogical rabbit hole at 4:30 in the morning, after being up all night!

Since I was sleepless, I decided to work on tracking down the families of some of the mysterious people who were named in my elusive grandfather's, 1940 will. In doing so, I uncovered the names of the grandchildren of his second-cousin, Lillian Batts Melton, whom he'd left all of his real and personal property to. One of her descendants was her grandson, Ernest Roland Morgan, who, in 1940, was living in her home, along with his mother, Evelyn, and brothers, Harry and Sherman. His uncles, LeRoy and Larry, were also in the home. My grandfather, Daniel Webster Hill, who died on June 7th of that year, had also lived there, and should have been listed, since the enumeration date was to have been May 1, however, it's a possibility he may have been out of the home and "shacked up" elsewhere, at that time. (Another story for another time...)

Year: 1940; Census Place: Petersburg, Petersburg City, Virginia; Roll: m-t0627-04316; Page: 7A; Enumeration District: 115-21, retrieved from Ancestry.com 7/8/2019 at 4:46 a.m.

After discovering all of these previously-unknown-to-me names, I began to follow-up and research each individual. After just a few minutes, I was stopped dead in my tracks as I began to get hint after hint about Ernest Roland Morgan. It was clear that he'd followed in his own father's military footsteps, but information from his death records, as well as subsequent obituaries and newspaper clippings I ran across, showed me that Ernest was no run-of-the-mill, ordinary man. No, this cousin of mine was ALL THAT and a bag of (military) chips! And for me, this is an anomaly for my tree - a tree that's filled with a lot of wonderful people, who did much good in the world, but who were mostly behind the scenes worker-bee types (like me), not those who shine in the spotlight and get tons of recognition and/or accolades. That just isn't who my family's been - and I'm okay with that - but, Cousin Ernest? Cousin Ernest was a STAR!

*Military Accomplishments

Ernest Roland Morgan, General, United States Army (retired) was born March 29, 1932, and he was called back home November 21, 2001, following knee surgery in Huntsville, Alabama. He made national headlines in 1975 when he was captured in Beirut, Lebanon by Lebanese terrorists and released 13 days later.

He went on to become the Adjutant General of the D.C. National Guard and finally the Commanding General of the National Guard of the U.S. Virgin Islands. His military career spanned 35 years. He had a tour of duty in Korea and in Vietnam and retired in 1987.

*Buried at Arlington National Cemetery

MORGAN, ERNEST ROLAND 
MG   US ARMY 
KOREA, VIETNAM 
DATE OF BIRTH: 03/29/1932 
DATE OF DEATH: 11/21/2001 
BURIED AT: SECTION 66  SITE 6267-1 
ARLINGTON NATIONAL CEMETERY

(The preceding excerpts were taken from http://www.arlingtoncemetery.net/ermorgan.htm. PLEASE click the link to read the full tribute page from Arlington National Cemetery.)

*Appointed Adjutant General of the Militia of the District of Columbia

This next blurb from "Public Papers of the United States: Ronald Reagan, 1981 tells about Cousin Ernest's appointment as Adjutant General of the DC National Guard.

Source: Public Papers of the Presidents of the United State: Ronald Reagan, 1981. Published by Best Books on, 1982

*Abducted and Prisoner of War for 13 Days

This next article tells of the circumstances of Ernest's abduction in Beirut. Please click on the link to read the story. Security Forces Search for Missing Colonel Thanks to the sleuth work of my faithful gen-friend and reader, Kristin Cleage, I now have this press photo of my late cousin, Ernest Roland Morgan. It is taken from The Historic Images Outlet and is titled, "1975 Press Photo US Army Colonel Ernest Morgan Released by Kidnappers Beirut" and can be viewed at https://outlet.historicimages.com/products/rsk86671 Thanks, Kristin! :) Lastly, I must share this beautiful article, again, found by my friend, Kristin, which tells of the news of the Ernest's release being broken to his mother and family. And, as an added bonus, there's a photo of his mom (my third-cousin, once-removed), Evelyn Batts Morgan Johnson, and his brother, Harry; so I get to see what more of my family members actually looked like!        CLIPPED FROM Honolulu Star-Bulletin  Honolulu, Hawaii13 Jul 1975, Sun  •  Page 11            * Conclusion So, now I have a high-ranking, notorious, military leader and hero (of sorts) on my family tree! Ernest Roland Morgan was my fourth-cousin on my mother's paternal line, a side of her family we never knew. Our shared ancestors were our third-great-grandparents, Charn (Charlton or Charnton) HILL and Gracey BRYANT, of Tyrrell County, NC. Of course, I'll now start seeking out his descendants, with hopes of learning more about this part of my family. This quick little research jaunt has yielded even more new and interesting facts about this branch of my family tree. There's definitely a follow-up post coming, so stay tuned! * Just an aside: I have to admit that the one not-so-fun thing about this discovery is reading that Ernest died after having knee surgery. I have personally known or known of several people who've gone in for a "simple" knee or back surgery, who ended up six feet below, as a result thereof; but this is the first on my tree. As one who is facing knee and hip replacement, it's a more than a little unnerving to read this. I'm gonna stay prayed up, as I'm preparing for the first hip, soon. Ya'll pray for me, too, if you would! :) Thanks for reading and if anyone connected to this family happens upon this, please reach out to me in the comments or email me at yarsan@aol.com.  Renate
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Sentimental Sunday - The ANCESTORS At Work in Tyrrell County!

I am posting this under the "Sentimental Sunday" prompt because today has been a very emotional one for me (for reasons I don't wish to discuss), and I needed something good to happen. And so it has, with a little (or a lot) of help from the Ancestors!

I haven't before written on this blog about my mother's paternal line, which hails from Tyrrell County, NC. This is a line I wasn't even aware of, until just a few years ago, due to the fact that my mother never knew her father, nor any of his family members, save a distant cousin of his who (apparently) lived in the Norfolk, Virginia community she grew up in. According to what I've been told, my grandfather, Daniel Webster HILL, abandoned my grandmother and their two children in 1938, when my mother was but 4 years old, and her brother, Howell, 7. My mother, who passed in 2013, had no memory of Daniel, at all; and my uncle's few memories of him are not pleasant. Once their father left, the family didn't hear from him, again, and it's only because of my research that I was able to inform my mother before she passed, that her father had actually died in Peterburg, Virginia in 1940 - just a couple of years after he'd left them.

My grandmother remarried in the same year of Daniel Hill's death, so I have to believe she did know of his circumstances; however, my mother maintained throughout her life that she didn't know anything about what happened to him, so I have to believe that. She would have only been 6 years old when her father passed, and she already had a new step-father, whom she loved dearly, and came to refer to as her father. I'll write more about that when I more fully introduce this line, but for now, here's a shot of my descent from Charn HILL and Grace BRYANT of Tyrrell County, North Carolina. Charn and Grace were Daniel Hill's great-grandparents.

Now, let me get to the point of this post:

Last month, I had the honor of presenting my talk, "Researching Ancestors of Color: It Takes a Village" to the Tyrrell County Genealogical and Historical Society. That visit was only my second to Tyrrell County, an area of North Carolina with which I had no familiarity before learning that I have ancestry from there. So, I went down early and did some exploring before my presentation, and when I returned home, I blogged about my visit. As a result of this post, I've received many messages from folks in Tyrrell County, offering support and encouragement with my research. One of the most exciting was a private message from Reverend Laurel Melton, Associate Minister of Chapel Hill Missionary Baptist Church, who reached out to me via Facebook. Rev. Melton took my number and agreed to call me soon since she'd read that many of my Hill (and Bryant) family members attended Chapel Hill, and are buried in the cemetery there.

Meanwhile, I posted, a few days ago, on the Tyrrell County Genealogy page on Facebook, a query about the location of my Hill ancestors' land, and a family cemetery that is named in some of their death certificates. There've been many comments, but in one, the poster asked if I'd read the "cemetery books" by Camille Everton. I had not, so the commenter suggested that I contact one Jimmy Fleming, who was said to be working to update the listings. So, I reached out to Jimmy, and he graciously offered to look for my Hills, and email me his findings. That he did, and upon receiving his email, today, I was happily surprised to see a listing for a HILL FAMILY CEMETERY in the Scuppernong district of the county, where much of my Hill family lived! Here's the listing:

Cemetery Name:		Hill Family Cemetery
Town/Community:		Albemarle Church Road
County & State:		Tyrrell County, NC
Location:		Family cemetery located about .2 miles in a field south of SR 1200 (Albemarle Church Rd) almost
		directly across from the intersection of SR 1200 (Albemarle Church Rd) and SR 1203 (Albemarle Shore
		Rd) in the Scuppernong community of Tyrrell County.
GPS Location:		N35 55.626 W76 20.514

When I saw this, a Genealogy Happy Dance happened that I didn't even know I had in me!

Still dancing, I plugged the location of the cemetery into Google Earth, to see if I might get lucky enough to see the graves. I did narrow down the image and identified some potential graves, but it wasn't clear enough to be sure. I took a snapshot and made a mental note to get back to Tyrrell County as soon as possible. But ....
....the Ancestors weren't through with me yet! Guess what happened next? A private message popped up on my Facebook wall, and guess who it was????  Reverend Melton!!! Can you believe it? She was just letting me know that she hadn't forgotten me, and would be calling soon, but you KNOW I asked her about this cemetery, and guess what her response was? Well, just look for yourself!

It's. right. down. the. road. from. her!!!!!!!

Oh, my goodness!!!! I was in here dancing and screaming! Not only did Reverend Melton divulge that she knows and lives near the cemetery, but she went on to tell me that she knows the Hill family that maintains it, and that one of them is a high school classmate of hers (who she also mentioned I reminded her of). She is giving that person (my cousin?) my contact info and will encourage her to call me.  So, I'm going to "meet" one of my Tyrrell County HILL cousins!!!!

This is the area of the Hill Family Cemetery. I see something I think might be graves, but I'm not sure enough to claim them (yet). 

Oh, my gosh, I needed this today!!!!! It's been an emotional week, and a challenging day but what  I'm feeling right now on this Sentimental Sunday is pure GRATITUDE. So, thanks to the Ancestors, to God, and to all of the people who fell into place in the ultimate plan to lead me to this place at this time.

Thanks for reading!

Renate

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New Discoveries on the Maternal Side - HILLS, HOWELLS, and HAYES

Yesterday was a banner day in my research life for two reasons: One, I visited the Library of Virginia for the very first time, and two, while there I discovered the name and hometown of my maternal great grandmother!

The Library of Virginia is indeed a beautiful building. It is spacious, well-lit, and beautifully appointed. I'd gone there planning to tour the entire edifice, and take it all in, with plans only to view and get copies of three of my Norfolk, VA ancestors. After all, I was only in Richmond for an impromtu breakfast meet-up with my youngest daughter. This was just going to be a quick stop on a day filled with "to-do"s. Four hours after arriving, I was reluctantly leaving for the drive back home to attend an afternoon engagement. Not only did I have the death certificates (which provided lots of surprising information that I'll blog about later), but I'd also taken advantage of the Pro-Quest access to uncover more articles about my ancestors, the tiniest of which provided me with information about the family of my elusive grandfather, Daniel W. Hill, my mother's father (who abandoned their family when she was just four).

Daniel Webster Hill has, until now, just basically been a name on my family tree.  He is definitely one of my brick walls, and he is the one closest to me, generationally, as he was my mother's father.  Daniel and my grandmother, Mary Davis Walker, were married in Philadelphia in 1929, and they lived there for a short time after they wed.  However, by 1930, they are already back in Norfolk, VA, living in the home which Mary had moved out of to join Daniel in PA.  I've often wondered why they returned to Norfolk so soon, but perhaps now, I've found my answer.

As a result of my search of the Norfolk Journal and Guide on ProQuest for "Daniel Hill Norfolk", this little article popped up.

It reads: Mrs. Pinkie Howell of Gilmerton, VA, who was strickin with illness while visiting her daughter in Philadelphia, Pa., died Sunday, May 19.  The remains were brought to Gilmerton for funeral and internment.  She leaves to mourn her loss a son, Mr. Daniel Hill, of Norfolk, and one daughter, Mrs. Emma Hayes of Philadelphia.

..... and
        the
             brick wall
                    began to immediately
                                                tumble
                                                       down.....

In just these three little lines, I learned the following information that I never knew before:

• The name of my great-grandmother.  Pinkie Howell would have been my mother's grandmother.  This explains so much for me, as I've often wondered how and why she never knew her father's parents, or any of his relatives, despite the fact that he abandoned the family when she was four.  I've asked her and her brother many times if they are sure that no one ever asked after them, or visited them from their father's family.  They've always insisted that no one had, and they've both grown old not knowing a thing about their own father or his family - except for their father's name.  Now, at least I can let them know that it wasn't that their own grandmother didn't care enough to want to know them; she had passed before either of them were ever born. :(
• The origin of my mother's brother's first name, Howell.  My grandparents named their first-born child, Howell Webster Hill.  I've always felt that the "Howell" had to be for something or someone, since they gave him the same middle name as his father (Webster).  Now that I've discovered his mother's surname, I'm beginning to question whether or not Daniel's real last name might've been Howell, too.  Maybe he was running or hiding from something or someone, and maybe this is why he's remained a brick wall for so many years.  This is a stretch though, because there are some other Hills in the Norfolk area who my mom and her brother say that we are related to.  Maybe Pinkie was just married to a Howell who raised Daniel.  I'll have to research this further.
• The location of my grandfather's family.  According to the article, Pinkie Howell lived in Gilmerton, Va.  Well, there is no longer a township by that name, but when I looked it up, I discovered that Gilmerton was actually located in Chesapeake, Va (which is right next to Norfolk), and after a few moments reflection, realized that it must be in the section of Chesapeake which now hosts the Gilmerton Bridge, which I hear about every morning and evening during the traffic segment on the news.  This was confirmed today during a telephone conversation with my Uncle Howell, who lives in Chesapeake now.  This means that my grandfather, Daniel Hill, whom I've always known was born in Virginia, was most likely raised right in Chesapeake.
• The fact that my grandfather had a sister, Emma, her married name, Hayes, and her location.  This means that my mother and her brother had an aunt, who sadly, never knew them or vice-versa.  However, Emma will most likely be the key to my finding out more about my grandfather's family and circumstances, and she may even lead me discovering what happened to him.  I've already found the Emma Hayes that I'm pretty certain is her.If I'm right, she was married to McCabe Hayes, a gentleman who appears to have been 8 years younger than she, and who was a WWI Veteran.

From this 1920 Census document, I also learn that Emma's father was born in North Carolina, and her mother in Virginia.  Assuming that Emma and Daniel shared the same parents, these would be my great-great grandparents. :)

• In addition to the information above, several "mysteries" have been cleared up for me by this article.  I now understand why, despite an announcement in the Journal and Guide (which I shared in a previous post) that my grandparents (Daniel and Mary) were married and had moved to Philadelphia in 1926, they were back living at her home in Norfolk by the time the 1930 Census was taken. I also never understood just how it came to be that they got married in Philadelphia, rather than in Virginia.  Even though my mother and her brother have always said that their father had some kind of connection to Philadelphia, they never seemed to know what it was.  Now, we know that at least one close relative, Daniel's sister, Emma was there.  Perhaps, after the death of their mother, they came back this way to close her affairs.  I may never know the answer to that, but at least it all makes more sense now.

What was supposed to have been a quick visit to the Library of Virginia, has resulted in a smashing (no pun intended) insult to a long-held brick wall!  I now have my work cut out for me as I begin to explore this newly found branch of my family tree.  There are many questions to be answered, and lots of verifying to do, but I'm up for the task!  In just a few weeks, school will be out for the summer, and I'll be digging into my research around the clock.  Surely, this will keep me busy for hours on end!

Thanks for reading. :)
Renate

Maryanne's Birthday - Bringing Family Together!

This past Wednesday, March 23rd, was my mother's 77th birthday. On Sunday prior, I hosted a little celebration in her honor, which was attended by her siblings, their spouses, a cousin, and my oldest brother, Ed. It's difficult for me to write much about the dynamics of this side of my family, because I am innately guided by the mantra, "If you can't say something nice, don't say nothing at all." Not only did my father reiterate this phrase over and over again during my childhood, but I also heard it each morning on the radio station. I didn't realize (or remember) until searching for the exact voice to link into this post, that this was a line from the movie, Bambi!
Anyway, the gathering was a complete success, and my mother was truly happy to see her family members all together. It was a long day for her, and she was tired by the time we started taking pictures, but I do have a couple to share.

Mom was wide awake and excited about the "surprises" I had in store for her.

My brother, Ed, helping mom read one of her cards.

Mom with her sister, Gwen, and brother, Howell. (I forgot to get the 7's for the cake, so I used the number one to indicate that she is the #1 Mom!)

Maryanne Hill Hoggard Yarborough was born March 23, 1934 to parents Daniel W. and Mary Hill.  I thank God for allowing her to celebrate another birthday!