The Montgomery/Williams Project: Group Page Cover Photo 3

The Montgomery/Williams Project: Group Page Cover Photo 2

The banner art from the top of James Francis Williams and Myrtle Ethel Montgomery's Marriage License. A 76 year old, still intact document. courtesy of Jo Littrell

The Montgomery/Williams Project: Profile Pictures 2

In the family book we will need several pictures. Profile Pictures will be needed similar to the ones in the montage below. If you're not in the montage then I don't have a profile picture for you so send me one. If you don't like the one in the montage send me a different one. The profile picture should be a head and shoulders shot. It can not be a full body shot because the picture will be small in the profile part of the book. If you don't have a head and shoulder shot then you can 'crop' a larger picture. If you don't know how to crop a shot just send it to me and I will do it. All profile pictures will be cropped to a square.
HOW TO SEND ME A PICTURE: Post and share to this group. Take a selfie and share it to this group. Facebook email (messenger) it to me. Email it to indianaglenn@gmail.com . Mail it to me at PO BOX 20794, Indianapolis, Indiana 46220-0794. OR call me to come and get it!!!!!.

The Montgomery/Williams Project: Profile Pictures 1

How well do you know your Williams Family?
Us the comments to identify (with picture number and name) as many as you can.
No cheating by looking at other's responses.

The Montgomery/Williams Project: Family History Book & Photo Album.

In addition to this group page the Project includes the publishing of a family history book, a photo album, a picture CD and possibly a video DVD.

The Book Project:

The book will consist of two parts: a family history section and a photo album section. The size and content of both parts will be dependent upon how much is contributed by family members, you, your siblings and your cousins. We’re not talking about money when we say contributions, we’re talking about information and items to go into the book.

The family history section:

Relying on information and research already collected is not going to be enough. Most of it is historical and will have to be verified and supplemented by additional research. In addition there is virtually no documentation on the descendants of James and Myrtle Montgomery Williams -- the focal point of the book.

Most of what we need from everyone for this section is:

Memories of family stories, saved letters your willing to share, copies of birth and death certificates, marriage license, military papers, newspaper clippings (birth, announcements, obituaries, news stories), etc.

The family history part of the book will be organized as follows:

• Introduction & Historical background
• Chapter 1: The families migration story
• Chapter 2: The Pope Family
• Chapter 3: The Montgomery Family
• Chapter 4: The Brown Family
• Chapter 5: The Williams Family
• Chapter 6: Myrtle Montgomery and James Williams Descendants
• The Photo Album

The photo album:

I have already scanned and indexed 515 photos from mine and Jodi’s collection. 371 have already been sorted out for possible inclusion in the photo album,* but like anyone's photo collection the emphasis is on their own family. In all only about 30 of these pictures will be useful in the photo album, and most of them will be of her family. We need photos from everyone, especially old photos of aunts, uncles, grandparents, etc. (most of the older photos of siblings and ancestors of Myrtle and James will appear in the Family History Section)

The Photo album format will be:

1. Mr. & Mrs. James Williams
2. The children of James Williams (Siblings) 27 photos each = total 18 pages
3. The grandchildren of James Williams (First Cousins) 18 photos each = total 34 pages
4. The grandchildren of James Williams (Second Cousins) 9 photos each = total 12 pages
5. Third Cousins with children (third cousins without children will be with their parents)

As you can see we are looking at about 64 pages of photos. It could be more are less depending on how many cousins there are (who knows right now?), how many photos are contributed, and how many photos will actually be usable.

As you can see both parts of the Book Project require participation of everyone for it to be a success. We will start requesting information from everyone soon, but you can start contributing to the project right now by sharing family pictures and information to this group page.

Three ways to contribute:

1. Post information to this group page
2. Email it to me: indianaglenn@gmail.com
3. Postal mail it to me. I will return everything by mail. Glenn Littrell, PO Box 20794, Indianapolis, Indiana 46220-0794

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THE COST: It cost between 30 to 50+ dollars to have a 200 page book printed.

• If we are unsuccessful in collecting enough information to produce a book then I will provide copies of the book free of charge to those contributing to the book. This is the risk I assume in undertaking this project. These free copies will only be provided to those contributing to the project.
• If we are successful in collecting enough information copies will be made available at cost.
• The CD: The CD will contain as many of the pictures collected that the CD will hold. It will be included free with each copy of the book in the initial distribution.

Nee, nee, nee, a horse is a horse of course…

updated 2-24-2017

I have come across a public notice from a 1932 newspaper (below) concerning a family I’m researching. The notice either clears up the identification of the family, or creates more questions than it answers. This is a common paradox of genealogy, that most evidence proves something while raising more questions.

In the case of the following article the usage of a certain word is the culprit. Does the word have a narrow, specific, legal meaning?

The dilemma:

• What I knew before discovering this article: That an ancestor, James Pope had a daughter named Maggie, and that Maggie married Pastor Sidney M. Puryear… all of Indianapolis.
• What I suspected: That Maggie might have died in 1916.
• What I didn’t know: If Maggie and Sidney had any children, who was Sidney’s family, and what ever happened to Sidney.

The article:

PROBATE CAUSE
In The Court Marion County, Indiana
Estate Docket 88 Page 30234
Daniel W. Jones
Executor Of Estate Of John A. Puryear, Deceased, Laura Bennett, et. al.
To Laura Bennett and Holman P. Bennett her husband, Maggie Puryear Kimbro, nee Puryear, and Edward Kimbro, her husband, Sidney M. Puryear and Clara Ellison.
You severalty hereby notified that the above named petitioner as Executor of the estate of the aforesaid, has filed in the Probate Court of Marion County, Indiana, a petition, making you defendants thereto, and praying therein for an order and decree of said court authorizing the sale of certain real estate belonging to the estate of said decedent, and in said petition described to make assets for the payment of debts and liabilities of said estate; and has also filed an affidavit averring that you and each of you are non-residents of the State of Indiana, or that your residence is unknown and that you are necessary parties to said proceedings, and that said petition so filed, and which is now pending, is set for hearing in said Probate Court at the court house in Indianapolis, Indiana, on the 6th day of September 1932.

Witness the Clerk and Seal of said court, this 2nd day of July 1932
GLENN B. RALSTON. Clerk of the Probate Court of Marion County
R. L. Bailey. Atty. 7-9-32

The question and word that causes some possible confusion is “nee” (emphasis added above). The use of the word in genealogy has fallen in signifigance as divorce and remarriage has become more common. The original use of the word was to indicate the maiden name of a women. Nee being added after the married name and before the maiden name. What is more common today is to indicate the maiden name by having it preceed the married name and usually indicated by quotes or parentheses. The practice of a woman keeping her maiden name and hyphenating it with her married name has further eroded the use of the word nee. In addition with divorce and remarriage (wash, rinse, and repeat) the “nee” becomes useless in its original use, to indicate maiden name, and would have us ‘nee, nee, neeing’ like a hungry horse.

In regards to the ‘legal’ use of the word the paragraph naming the defendants is what troubles me. Does the word here have a specific, narrow, legal use similar to the traditional and genealogical use of specifically designating the woman’s maiden name?

• Maggie Puryear Kimbro: I would normally assume this was Sidney’s wife who had remarried, to Edward Kimbro, but “…nee Puryear” raises a suspicion that this Maggie might be a different Maggie, a Puryear by birth, either a sister, aunt, niece, or cousin of Sidney’s. I would have been surprised to find that Maggie and Sidney had divorced and would also be surprised to find a divorced and remarried daughter-in-law being included in an estate settlement.
• I would have assumed Laura Bennett to be the a married relative of the deceased and that Clara Ellison is an unmarried relative, probably a grandchild of the deceased. Why isn’t Laura Bennett identified by “nee (maiden name)”?

Most of my encounters with legal notices and documents in genealogy research can usually be clarified with other evidence such as additional probate records or census data, but this is the only thing I have that identifies Sidney’s family, or anything on either Maggie or Sidney after 1916. It is also my first encounter with probate/legal records in Indiana.

If not for the use of the word “nee” in this notice the following is what my probable assumptions would be:

• That Maggie (Sidney’s widow) had remarried to Edward Kimbro, but the executor had no knowledge of her whereabouts or if she was still living.
• That Laura Bennett was probably the married daughter of the deceased and sister of Sidney’s.
• The executor presumed that Sydney is probably deceased, but not certain.
• That Clara Ellison was an unmarried granddaughter or niece of the deceased

My experience has always been that legal notices and documents did not follow strict verbiage, form, and semantics in the 1700 and 1800s to the same degree that they do today, but this is the newest (1932) probate notice that I have dealt with to date. In the 1700 and 1800s doctors and lawyers didn’t always need a license or formal education to practice law or medicine. Dealing with my first legal document from the 1900s, particularly the 1930s, I wonder if the rules had yet become so defined or formalized. Thus my inquiry from a legal person like yourself. I hope you can help me on this, and welcome any opinion legal or otherwise, but if you can’t don’t worry, the beauty of doing this kind of research is its like a never ending detective story… answering one mystery while creating a new one that needs to be solved. I apologize for my grammatical and spelling errors. I have to save the favors of my proofing editor (my daughter) for the big projects. Thanking you in advance, your 1st cousin, once removed, Glenn Littrell www.littrellfamily.net

Rex’s reply: Hi Glenn.  I am Rex and Nancy’s son.   My mom asked me to review the message you sent to her and my sister Penny relating to your questions relating to the use of the word “nee” in the 1932 probate record for John A. Puryear.    As you know, that post related to the use of the phrase “nee Puryear” following the name Maggie Puryear Kimbro.  I am not a probate attorney – and certainly was not one in 1932 in Indiana – but I think your initial inclination that the word “nee” denoted a maiden name of possibly another Maggie may be correct.  I did a quick check of some other much more recent Indiana probate records on line, and the word “nee” appeared to be used to denote a maiden name.  Of course, without further proof, there is no way of know if the court clerk in 1932 was using the term in that manner, but that would be my assumption.  I am not aware of any formal legalese or formal rules relating to the term.  If my assumption is correct, it would not appear that “Maggie Puryear” was the Maggie Pope who married Sidney Puryear.  I wish I could offer more, but that is my take on the situation.  I am sure this is the type of puzzle that makes genealogy so fascinating and so frustrating at the same time.  Good luck with your search! Rex

As luck (translation: my occasional confusion) would have it my dilemma, though real, was misstated. Maggie Pope did not marry Sidney Puryear, her sister Hattie did. In spite of my mistake the reply by Rex cleared up not just my mistake but led me to find me additional information and the identification of the Puryear extended family and Hattie’s family.

 

anyone having an opinion on this can email me at indianaglenn@gmail.com

The Montgomery/Williams Project: Post Directly To The Montgomery/Williams Group/Page.

Did you know that YOU can post directly to this group/page.

• Messages to the family in general, pictures, or questions and shares from your "Timeline" & "Wall".
• Just use the "Write Post", "Add Photo/Video" or "Ask Question" links near the top of the page.
• You can even share post and pictures from other Facebook pages directly using the share option.

Click share and when the dialogue box opens, on the drop downlist change it from "on your own timeline" (or whatever) to "In a group" and enter the group name Montgomery/Williams Project" (you should see the group name come up after you start typing, then just click it)

JUST REMEMBER:

• The general rule is to keep it family oriented (Williams, Montgomery and your family), this is not a hard and fast rule, but keep it in mind.
• Anything you post here is only seen by members of this group (136 cousins, aunts and uncles).

The Montgomery/Williams Project: Who’s Who?

This last week I have posted maps and information about the migration of 4 Kentucky families to Indianapolis, Indiana. These four families are the ancestors of James Francis 'Todd' Williams and his wife Myrtle Ethel Geneive Montgomery.

In the case of James we refer to the Williams family (his father's) and the Pope family (his mother's (grandparents)). In the case of Myrtle we refer to the Montgomery family (her father's) and the Brown family (her mother's)

On this group page to keep from losing track of who is who try to use the following guidelines (if you can):

• Myrtle and James: we will always refer to them as Myrtle, James, Mom, Dad, Mr. Williams, Mrs. Williams, the Williams family.

Their (Myrtle and James) ancestors and contemporaries:

• Their siblings will be referred to as: grand-uncles, grand-aunts.
• Their parents, aunts and uncles will always be referred to as: grandpa, grandma, grand-uncle _______ or grand-aunt ______, the term 'great' will precede any parents of these kinfolk.

Their descendants:

• Their children will be referred to as: the siblings, aunt ______, uncle ______.
• Their grandchildren: grand-kid/child, First Cousins, the term 'great' will precede any children of the grand-kids (and so forth) of the grand-kids, as will 2nd cousin, 3 cousin, etc. Except in some circumstances the reference to generation, as in 'once removed' will not be used.

In this group page when these titles are used think of them as in relationship to James and Myrtle, not to you. Therefore if James is your grandfather then you can refer to him as Dad, Mr. Williams, or James, and his father as grandfather. Always think of James as dad, then you won't have to learn the pattern. You will just know.

This helps keep things from being confusing when you are talking about James to a niece or aunt. Your aunt might say brother, her daughter might say uncle, and your saying dad. It can get confusing.

Who are the siblings:

The children of James and Myrtle; Jimmy, Roy, Sherri, etc.

Who are the ‘First Cousins’?

The grandchildren of James and Myrtle; Tonya, Mark, Kelly, Johhny, Devon, etc.

The Montgomery/Williams Project: Joining the Group Page

As your touching base with family members this Christmas week:

This group page can be a great tool for sharing and spreading information about our heritage, past and present, but we all have to be sure to share that information with our family members to foster that heritage.

Non-members of this group page can see who's in the group, but they can't see what's posted on the group pages. They can see some photo's, but not all. They can't see the conversations. And most importantly, they can only receive invitations to join the group from someone on their 'Friends' List.

I have sent 'joined' every Williams I know (from my 'Friends List') into this group. To help make this group page work you should do the same. They can always 'unjoin' from the group.

The whole idea behind the family group page is to have a place for sharing with family, as we prepare to create a Family History/Picture album (print version), without sharing EVERYTHING we post on Facebook.

Any questions? Ask them in a comment.

The Montgomery/Williams Project: Joining the Group

I have joined you to this group to make you aware of a family project I am undertaking. The publication of a Montgomery-Williams family history/photo book. Depicting 150 years of history. Please read the description for this group page for more information on the project.
This is a closed group which means whatever is shared in this group can only be seen by members of this group. You are as of now a member of this group. You can un-join (leave) this group at anytime, but please consider remaining in the group for more information on the project.
As I work on the project i will share information with the group.
As I proceed I will request information from members of the group. You are not required to provide that information, but your section of the book will depend on what you provide.be bare.
Think ahead. How much do you know of your families history? Do you want your descendants to be unaware of that history? Do you want your great-great-grand children to be unaware of you?

The Montgomery/Williams Project: Introduction

A few months ago Jodi and others received correspondence from Frank "Bob" Montgomery, a first cousin of the children of James and Myrtle (Montgomery) Williams. Bob provided them with some loose papers depicting some research and history of the ancestors of James and Myrtle.

Having done research on the genealogical history of my Littrell family, I offered to look at the papers and see if I could organize them into a historical presentation. Having worked with the papers for the last few weeks I have used my software to organize the material and believe that I should be able to put together a nice family history and picture book for the descendants of James & Myrtle (that's you).

I am too tied up in my websites and Facebook group page and boxes of unprocessed records for my Littrell family to undertake any new research, so I will be reliant on the information provided by Bob and his contributors for the historical parts of the book and upon you for information on your families.

I hope to have the book completed and available by next years Independence Weekend Picnic. If I don't have the book completed in time it will be because of a lack of cooperation and information from the descendants of James & Myrtle. If you, your siblings and cousins provide the information in time I will complete the book in time.

If the book is completed in time and you have not provided the information then it will be to late. The book will finished before, and will be available at the picnic. Copies will be available for those who contributed information. I have published several books over the last few years and they are very nice publications: bound, in color, with quality photographs when they are made available. I believe I can provide these book for free, definitely at no more than cost.

Glenn D. Littrell

Happy Birthday Sierra!!!

When Is Nieces' Week!

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Nieces'!! I have beautiful nieces and grand-nieces that
I love more than I can describe and will hold them in my heart
for a lifetime!
Tracy, Tonya, Dee-Ele, Myanna, Shylin & Sierra.
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