This week’s theme is “Help.” When did an ancestor give or receive help? My first thought is of the neighbors who brought meals to my great-grandparents and their children while they were sick with the Spanish Flu. Another route you could take is when you’ve received help in your genealogy research. Who helped you and what did they help you discover?
When I get stuck with my Genealogy, I go to Legacy Webinars or read a new book for “help.” Then, I watch a couple of webinars to figure out what to do next. For example, in reviewing my great-great grandfather Chappell, I came across a will that named him as a brother, but the person’s name was Mack Williams and not Chappell. It listed Mack and Dave Williams, Mariah Walton, Josephine Menefee, and Columbus Chappell[1]. At that point, I didn’t know what to think. Is this him or not? So I needed help with solving this issue. I watched two webinars on the Legacy Webinar site that I thought might help. They were “We Were Supposed To Be Neals: Reconstructing An Enslaved Family Using DNA” by Renate Yarborough Sanders and “FAN Club in Action: a Simple Case Study” by Geoff Rasmussen. I used the Sanders webinar to keep my focus on slave research and the Rasmussen webinar as a method to visualize my process.
In the estate papers of John D Chappell, I found a list containing the above persons and more. I also found a document listing the widow of John D Chappell becoming the wife of William Williams and preserving the wealth of John D for their daughter Eliza Eugenia Chappell[2].
[1] Macon County, Alabama, Will Record, 1907-1911, Vol 17:512-513, will of Mack Williams, 13 Feb 1911,” Alabama, Wills & Probates,1753-1999,” database & images,Ancestry.com(http://www.ancestry.com;accessed5 Aug 2022).
[2] Macon County, Alabama, Probate Court, Estate Papers Chamdliss, Ignativs -Chappell, JD, for John D Chappell, 1 January 1863, ”Alabama, Estate Papers, 1832 – 1940,” record 2033822, film # 782338, images 1616-1617, familysearch.org (http://www.familysearch.org: accessed 5 Aug 2022).