Henry Virtner Keep

[JPK Huson 1863]

This was quite wonderful. When researching CW ancestors, beyond a few 3rd cousins I know of who achieved 'something' ( and don't make a meal out of- too distant, just a kick to think about ) I don't include men who are further distant then uncles. While poking around in one uncle's life, thinking gosh, now HERE'S a boring kind of fellow, a distant name-sake came up. The New York 'Henry Keep', the name I was looking researching, was a never-married farmer who moved 3 times, end of story, snore.

It transpires I have a 3rd cousin, Henry Virtner Keep, Major, Lt. Col, Confederate, 3rd Infantry Regiment, named in Wiki's order of battle for Perryville among other things. I guess the 3rd was also known as Marmaduke's and the 18th Arkansas? I tried to look up perhaps what happened to him after the war ( survived ) but his descendents apparently take zero interest in what the man did during his lifetime. I actually do find this a little annoying, looking one of these soldiers up on Ancestry to find nothing more than 'birth' and 'death' on their profiles.

BOY is 'Keep' a tough name to research, too! It's my middle name- try explaining that on the playground. In your search results, you get allll the results of 'Keep trying', etc. Luckily not a common name, so when you come across someone like Henry Virtner, it doesn't take much digging to find the common ancestor. We share grgrgrandparents, up in Longmeadow, Mass. There are also a plethora of southern Husons in military records, gives me the idea to see who moved south and when.

 

[donna]

Sounds interesting. It is hard when you hit a brick wall, as they say in genealogy. I have hit one on my great grandfathers. I have him in Census of 1880 and have his marriage to my great grandmother in 1880. I know he was around in 1891 when my grandfather was born but then that is it. His name is John McMahan. There are several McMahans in 1860 and 1870 census in Ky. but they just don't seem right. I will keep trying. Good luck with your research.

 

[JPK Huson 1863]

Thanks, Donna! It's the first time I wandered into a relative who wore gray, made me smile because it just calls a screeching halt to all the devisive nonsense, doesn't it? There are relatives in common who marched on Lexington, gives you the chills sometimes wondering how we all got so far apart on so many things.

Yes, I know what you mean about finding people with the correct names but you just know it's not 'them'. Better to not accept them until you KNOW. The other day, I noticed someone had copied one of my photos, of a grgrgrandmother to their tree. I thought it was great, someone to contact, see how we were related. Nope. Just the same name, I guess someone just wanted a photo! Funny.

 

[donna]

I know what you mean, a distant cousin, who I never knew before, responded to a Message I had left on an Ancestry message board. She had a Tree on Ancestry. She had so much information wrong on the family. She just takes a name without proving the actual blood link.

She had wrong information about my great grandfather, John McMahan. I tried to tell her she had wrong person but she said she keep the information she had until I could provide more information.

I never list an ancestor until have positive proof we are related. Incorrect information can really mess up your research. Of course, to join any Heritage Society you have to have the proper documentation of relationship.

 

[JPK Huson 1863]

Isn't that wierd? It's not that I think the other person should need to 'prove' something because that ancestor themselves was an important person, it's just sooo silly to make up nonsense to fill up holes in your tree, isn't it? Drives me a little crazy- it's exactly the same as ALL history. If it's not correct, it's not correct, bottom line, just do not repeat it, perpetrate, or help the false facts along by leaving them in there for other people to assume otherwise.

Donna, you would have loved one woman. She contacted me absolutely insisting HER Annie Florence was MY Annie Florence, and why did I think she'd 'run off and left her children' 100 years ago? ??????? . I wrote back until I was blue in the face, copied documents, showed her patiently these women were 3,000 miles apart and my grgrandmother raised an uneventful family. Nope. In her head, it was the same person- she still has them linked in her tree. I'm hoping my Nana becomes irritated enough to go haunt her.

 

[donna]

In all the Genealogy Reserach books I have read, they warn you to be careful of Trees. They say they can be a clue or may have some information, but you need to check the information to see if there is proper documentation to back up their assertion that these ancestors are actually related.

I guess since I joined one group and had to produce all the proof of relationship, I know one has got to be careful in claiming an ancestor. It is like all these folks who want to be related to George Washington, Abraham Lincoln, and Robert E, Lee, to name a few. One has got to produce documentation not just hope that is the one.

I guess I seem to go on and on about this. I really enjoy doing Genealogy for my family and for others. I just know not to make a claim without proper documentation.

 

[JPK Huson 1863]

I really enjoy listening to someone who knows their stuff, truly! I haven't had the time to be able to apply sheer facts across the board where I'd like over on my tree- but boy, it's given me a huge appreciation of what a lot of nonsense is OUT there! I had no idea. Talk about amateur. I joined Ancestry because the family was getting larger- I thought it'd be great to have ONE place for everyone to go to get information, copy the photos, etc. It IS fabulous for that. Hee- as you say, if there's a 'famous person' somewhere, or the surname of a famous person, I learned the hard way people just make UP nonsense, attach their tree to it and hence involve yours if you're not careful! Maddening. I have someone named 'Howard', for instance, poor guy, no idea where he came from-no one does. Hee. May he rest in peace, is he allowed to? Nope. I must get 3 emails a month, 'do I know which royal family he came from?'. NONE of them, poor guy no doubt fell off a mule somewhere in Kansas, leave him alone! There's actually a DNA test being gotten together to SEE if this person is 'royal', how funny is that? He was a nice, plain, Quaker gentleman, I'm sure would be horrified at the thought of being attached to 'famous' people.

If I did have the time, Donna, I think I'd probably dig into this poor Howard fellow, prove he just wandered into Kansas from a non-royal, mule-raising, plain old Quaker settlement and take out an ad in the paper. That's how annoying it is! Also know someone who has always known they're related to Grant- funny- one peep THERE and all heck breaks loose so the opposite happens. She never, ever, EVER talks about it- refuses to. Says it's just not worth dragging out allllll the documentation, feeling like an idiot, almost guilty just to back-up something which has just been in the family for all these generations. She thinks it's just a nice thought anyway, if one needs to wave this stuff around like a flag, they're talking about it for the wrong purpose anyway.

Sorry to be so long with this, and thanks for indulging me. Seriously- you probably haven't noticed but it's the 'personal stories' threads I kind of stalk. They make history breathe and live for me, you know? Whether it's the story someone told of Jackson sending home a cornflower because it reminded him of the color of his daughter's eyes, or the one I just read where Dolly Hill just knew the officers were coming to tell her her husband was dead while she was hanging laundry or just our relative's personal stories like my grgrgruncle Calvin telling jokes while in prison- gosh- don't they connect you with History, capitol 'H'? There are a FEW people in the forum, if you keep your eyes open, you can depend on to always have these, like your Lucy background, btw.

Shushing now, before I put you to sleep!