Wednesday, February 23, 2011

Descendants of Joseph Washington Conner

So excited to hear that several of you may be related. I linked a page of a portion of my research that may be able to help. Check out the side bar for pages.
The formatting did not copy very well, so please excuse the occasional jumble.
Email me your email address if you think the information may be helpful.
Happy Trails!

Sunday, February 13, 2011

Trip to Rowan County, NC

Rowan County Public Library has an extensive "History Room". If you have never been, it is worth the trip if you are researching early North Carolina history and families.
I spent from 10 a.m. until 2 p.m. there and could spend days there. They had a specific sections for family research, NC counties, Salisbury newspapers, Virginia research and more!
I confirmed several things that were only theories for Conner research and look forward to going again really soon.
My wonderful mother-in-law was related to the McCanless family and I found a wonderful book that I would love to own. If anyone knows of a copy of The History of the McCanless Family in the United States for sale at a reasonable price, please let me know. It includes the documentation of her relative - D. C. McCanless murder trial when Hickock and two others were charged with the murder!
Many theories as to where the Conner family came from exist and that they were O'Conner/O'Connor before becoming Conner/Connor.
The puzzling thing is that in 1840 there is only one (1) O'Conner/O'Connor shown in the United States by Ancestry.com. That O'Conner/O'Connor lived in Maryland.
By the US Census, the Conner/Connor families were already established in the Carolinas with Conner families in the 1790 Census.
I would love to hear you thoughts on this idea and suggestions for further research.

Wednesday, February 9, 2011

Another step along the trail

Going, going, going....I can't wait! I'm going to Salisbury, NC to do some research on the Conner family.

Tuesday, February 8, 2011

Conner Research Snippets

It has been a task for me to figure out how to add pictures to my blog.
The pictures that I wanted to share are some that I found in my mother's collection that she had from her mother and a few tomb stone pictures from our cemetery trip.
A couple of pictures are of unknown people - a girl on a tintype and  families. I have identified most of the family members in the group photos.
Maybe you will recognize someone and we can compare Conner notes.
Enjoy!

Thursday, February 3, 2011

Time Together #1

One of my most favorite genealogy travels happened in 2001.
About 8 p.m. on a July night, I called my Aunt Bea (my mother's youngest sister) and ask her to take me around to the cemeteries where our Conner ancestors are buried. Cemeteries like Bethlehem and Bethel-Cherry Springs!
What a day we had! I picked Aunt BeBe up about 7a, so the cool of the morning would comfort us and we would be finished before the heat overwhelmed us.
Walking the grassy rows of the cemeteries, she told me stories about her mother and things she remembered about her grandmother - Addie Conner Skipper.
I am so thankful for the time that I spent with Aunt BeBe while she shared about the different Conner's.
We arrived home about 10 a.m. - tired, hot and happy.
After dropping off Aunt BeBe, I picked up Aunt Katherine (mom's other younger sister) for a trip into the low country...Rock Springs, Big Level and Bill's Creek Cemeteries. Aunt Kat continued to tell stories about each of the cemeteries and tombstones.
Along the way I took picture after picture of tomb stones of Conner ancestors. After returning home, it turns out that the pictures were invaluable for checking dates on ancestors and creating time lines.
Several of the pictures created more questions of who is who? Where did they come from? How are they related?
More Conner Trails to follow!