Happy Heavenly Mother’s Day to my mom Carrie Chapple Taylor and grandmother, Estella Smith Chapple and . . .
. . . to my paternal grandmother Louise Newsom Hubbard, great-grandmother Olivia Moten Newsom, great-grandmother Birdie Elizabeth Green and 2x great-grandmother Lula Routt Green.
This Memorial Day I honor my maternal and paternal ancestors (veterans and non-veterans) virtually with the launch of the – Claiming Kin Virtual Cemetery– at FindAGrave.com! [1]
I actually established this “on-going” virtual cemetery New Year’s Day of this year, but did not want to release it online until –
1) I had 20 or more ancestors listed
2) I had a chance to verify each ancestors’ connection to me and my family
The purpose of this new virtual cemetery is to link the interments of all my maternal and paternal ancestors together despite the geographical location of their graves. Those of you who have been following me for a while know FindAGrave.com is one of my favorite online resources to use with my family research. I started creating virtual cemeteries last year with the launch of my “on-going” Chapple Family Virtual Cemetery and when I see the number of visits that post has received via my blog’s Google Analytics dashboard widget and Feedjit live traffic feed, I hope that this post about this new virtual cemetery will do just as well too!
According to the Office of Public and Intergovernmental Affairs, on May 5, 1865, Decoration Day was established for our nation to decorate the graves of veterans with flowers. The first observance of this federal holiday took place at the Arlington National Cemetery in Arlington, Virginia. But by the end of the 19th century, Memorial Day ceremonies were being held on May 30 across the United States. By 1971, the US Congress declared Memorial Day a national holiday and it was at that time that it would be observed on the last Monday in May.
With so many Americans honoring the deaths of love ones who were not veterans on Memorial Day, in December 2000 Congress passed and the president signed in to law — “The National Moment of Remembrance Act” — so that veterans are particularly not forgotten on this national day! [2]
The National Moment of Remembrance encourages all Americans to pause wherever they are at 3 p.m. local time on Memorial Day for a minute of silence to remember and honor those who have died in service to the nation.”
To my family and friends, have a wonderful Memorial Day and if time allows, visit a local cemetery today! If you cannot make it to an actual cemetery, then I invite you to take a virtual stroll through the Claiming Kin Virtual Cemetery by clicking the link or the graphic above; feel free to leave virtual flowers if you like!
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Source Citation:
1. Taylor-Harris, L. (2013, May 25). Claiming Kin Virtual Cemetery. Find A Grave – Millions of Cemetery Records and Online Memorials. Retrieved May 25, 2013, from http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=vcsr
2. U.S. Department of Veteran Affairs. (2012, November 30). Memorial Day History. Office of Public and Intergovernmental Affairs. Retrieved May 25, 2013, from http://www.va.gov/opa/speceven/memday/history.asp
It’s Sentimental Sunday and this daily blogging prompt allows genealogy bloggers a chance to focus on a sentimental story or memory about an ancestor, or a wonderful family tradition. October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month and this month I also wear pink in honor of my paternal grandmother — Louise Newsome Hubbard!
Louise Newsome was born April 7, 1909 in Washington County, Texas to Henry Newsome and Olivia Moten.
As an only child, Louise was vivacious and full of energy. She was truly a smart woman. And if she’d had a formal education, she would have been a force to reckon with! She was fondly called by family and friends throughout the Washington County countryside — “Baby Lou.” But those who knew her best, such as her children, called her “Momma Lou!”
According to the 1940 census, she was living and working in Brenham, Washington County, Texas. So I’m not sure when she moved to Austin, Travis County, Texas, but that became the city she loved and called home!
Thinking the lump on her breast was an abscesses or boil, with the aid of her cousin (Lillian Bell Joyner), they applied some old home remedies on the lump and drew it to a head. When it finally burst, it drained blood and would not heal. When all else failed, she finally went to the doctor about her condition and learned that the lump was a cancerous tumor. Once her doctor learned that both of her sons (John Willie Taylor & Timothy Isaac Branford) and their families lived in Houston, he recommended that she transfer to M.D. Anderson Hospital where she would have a strong support system with her through the surgery and chemotherapy.
Louise Newsome Hubbard lived a full life 5+ years after her mastectomy and chemo. She died July 4, 1975 at 10:35 a.m. from carcinoma of the breasts at the Holy Cross Hospital, 2600 E Martin Luther King Jr Blvd, Austin, TX 78702 (you can learn more about her burial at FindAGrave).
Claiming Kin Genealogy 