Cousins Meet!

Last weekend, my mom and I took a little trip to California. We were able to visit my cousin who lives in the L.A. area. We had such a great time visiting and looking at old pictures, and we also had a wonderful meal prepared by my cousin. Thanks to Geoff Potter for getting us together!

Finding Cousins!

About a month ago, I happened to look in "Public Member Trees" on ancestry.com and found a 3rd cousin I didn't know existed. We are related through Mary Ann Moore Dempsey Roberts Cummins. She had three husbands, and this cousin comes through the second husband (Bennett Roberts), and I come through the 3rd husband (James Cummins). We also found that we had a friend in common. He came to visit me this last weekend, as well as our common friend. We all met for dinner and conversation and had a good time. We're hoping to collaborate on a website all about Mary Ann Moore and her families in the future. She had children with each husband.

I also found a 1st cousin that I had lost track of. I found her in "Public Member Trees" on ancestry.com as well. That's a great website (although you have to pay) to find live and deceased relatives. If you don't want to subscribe, you can go to the Family History Library in Salt Lake City, Utah and use it for free, or you might try a University Library. Anyway, I guess my message for today encourages everyone to share their information. That's how we find relatives. Last week I sent my cousin a bunch of certificates I'd collected and many pictures. She was really excited! I'm looking forward to receiving pictures from her also. A few years ago at Christmas time, I received a package in the mail from another cousin with lots of pictures and information. It was the best Christmas present I've ever received. So..........share, share, share!

James Shaw Millikin & his Other Family

Recently I was able to contact a live relative that I didn't know existed. I was pretty excited! She is my 2nd cousin once removed. My great grandfather is her grandfather's brother. Even though this is a site devoted to West Carroll Parish, I will tell her story here, although her grandfather lived in East Carroll Parish. James Shaw Millikin (brother to Creed Tanner Millikin) was married to Alice Keller, and they had seven children, but only three survived to adulthood. I have learned that he also fathered three children by a woman named Lizzie Brooks. She was a mulatto and lived in Mississippi. I don't know how they happened to get together.
My cousin knew of the existence of James Millikin, but didn't know much about him until I started emailing her. Her mother had always been rather secretive about the relationship. My cousin had wondered about James Millikin though, and so had her children. They were excited for him to finally become more real.
Red or yellow, black or white, all cousins are precious in my sight! This is a picture of Lizzie Brooks, and I think she is beautiful.

Marie Georgia Ann Shaw

Shaw Sisters

Some time ago, I joined a RootsWeb mailing list for West Carroll Parish. I found information about some Shaw sisters that was included in a post from several years previous. One of them was Margaret Shaw, who was my GGgrandmother. Pam Howard, the author of the post, emailed me and provided information that I didn't have. I was very excited because I knew very little about the family. Pam and I are still in contact, and I'm hoping to receive more information in the future. As I began researching the family, I found a death certificate for the youngest sister, Marie Georgia Ann Shaw. I shared it with Pam, who was enthusiastic about my find. I am posting it on this blog in hopes of finding others who might have information about the family.