The Family Album
Welcome to Larry's Family History Blog. This site is devoted to the genealogy research I'm currently conducting on my ancestral and related family lines. As new information and photos are discovered on my familes, I will post it here. This blog is run by Larry Van Horn and you can reach me at familyhistorian at frontier.com. Do not reuse any info or photos posted here in any format without proper attribution. Copyright 2006-2015 by Family Roots and Branches, a division of Teak Publishing.
The Family Album
Over 30 years ago there was a great debate among Boswell researchers about who the parents of Clarissa Boswell 2 November 1811 – 9 June 1884) KHQQ-7XC was.
Research Notes/Emails
Email from Larry Van Horn (3/24/2002)
As most of you are aware I have been searching long and
hard for some time now for the parents of Clarisa Boswell-Hurt-Zumwalt. After
many, many false starts and strange twisted paths, I might have finally found a
very promising lead and a possible breakthrough in this search.
This breakthrough is courtesy of my wife Gayle, my father WL, and Jay Mercer's parents. Let me backtrack a bit. Several years ago my father met with Jay's family and they passed on to him copies from the family bible, several letters written by Burford to his brother AHD (Hamy), some pics, Mary Susan Redus's diary, and a very interesting letter written by AHD's cousin Maud. This letter is enclosed below.
Here is that enumeration:
1870 Lowndes Mississippi U.S. Federal Census, Page 227, 506/749
506/750 Goodrich, Sarah 54 F W VA
If you examine Maud's letter to AHD she mentions her brother Johnny being sick. Notice that we have both a Maud (16-year-old school girl) and a John (7-year-old brother) in the above family. This is the only Boswell family I have found in Lowndes Co in 1870 so I am convinced this family and the one mentioned in the letter below are the ones I have been seeking.
Note: this is an exact match to the birthplace locations
Clarisa gave for her parents on the 1880 census in Medina Co.
Even though her birth location was different from this
enumeration from 1860 there is no doubt who this couple is. It is the
parents of Maud. Of course, my immediate thought was if Ira M. Boswell above is
Clarisa's brother and James Boswell above is his parents then this is
Clarisa's parents. The age of the head of household #127 and his wife above are
certainly within range to be Clarisa's parents.
If this family is related, I am reasonably confident they
are this could be a brother to Clarisa (probably James and Lena Boswell's
oldest son). Keep in mind that in 1850 William P. Hurt (age 43 and Clarissa
(age 37) were enumerated in Madison County, MS with their family including my
gg grandfather Hamy.
Florence Maud Boswell was still living at home but was now
married to Francis M. Jacob and had children of her own as indicated below:
As most of you know Clarisa was born circa 1811 in Georgia.
Below notice in particular child #2 Maud. This is
probably our Clarisa. I would like to take a second and thank Marci for sharing
her family info with us and I look forward to working with her in the near
future since she does live in the area and can help with research.
I would also like to thank Marci Shaw Peralez for her help.
===================================================
I received your welcomed letter last week and it is with
pleasure that I take up my pen to answer it.
If you think I have treated you badly I think you have treated me
equally as bad. It is nearly always twice
as long before I ever get an answer to any letters from you. I don't think it is hardly fair for you to
complain of short-letters, for you rarely ever write much and though little at
that. The idea of you thinking you have
said anything to hurt my feelings indeed you have and so I hope you...think so
any longer. You told - and to tell all
of the relatives to write - I have told them.
I don't know why they don't write - perhaps they don't have to receive
letters as well as I do. Columbus is
quite a sickly place, some are buried nearly everyday. We have had a great deal of sickness in our
family.
My little brother Johnnie has had two spells of the
Typhoid fever. He is getting well and is
walking about, though he is still very feeble.
Pa has just recovered from a spell of chills. He is working on the railroad, and we only see
him once a week. That sweetheart I gave
you has been having the chills and looks very bad. My sweetheart sent me his picture the other
day.
He lives in Winston Salem, has...don't tell anybody about
it. Just ought to see what a sweet piece
of poetry he wrote me about it. I hope
you don't think I am in love by what I write.
Far from that, I do not know what the word means. But I expect you know all about it. I think you ought to write me all about your
sweetheart and tell me all about her, for I know you have one. You say I promise to write you a long letter,
I think I always do write you long ones.
If you will tell what will interest you - I will always write long ones
for I do not know what will interest you period. You must answer this letter as soon as you
receive it, and I want you to write a long letter. I don't care if it is five or six pages
long. Give my love to your brother. Ma also sends her love to you and her. I must bid a good night and goodbye until I
hear from you again and do not let that be very long. Remember me as Ever Your True Cousin,
===================================================
From Cousin Marci:
This is what I have on the James Boswell family:
I have children for Ransom, Ira, Olive, Henry, Thomas,
James, and Josephine if you are interested in those.
=====================================================
This is one of the original sources I had back in the 1980s on my Van Horn family in Louisiana. These books back in the day were known as vanity history books and the writeups were written and submitted for publication by the families themselves. In essence, it was their version of their family history. This fine source but as I have discovered has one major flaw and some inaccuracies. I will have more to say about that in a later post.
From The American Genealogist, V47, pages 173-175
Researching early Van Horn families in Colonial America is a nightmare. There I said it and VH researchers really need to be aware that the early family genealogies were junk. But don't take my word for this. FTDNA Van Horn Y-DNA administrator Marleen Van Horne wrote about this on the Ancestry Van Horn Message Board in 2005:
"Pedigrees published on the Van Horn/Van Horne surname prior the 1958 are highly inaccurate. If you are a descendant of Cornelius Van Horne born 1695 in Brooklyn, or his brother, Abraham born 1698, Brooklyn, you will find two different sets of parents listed for these men, in pedigrees published on the web. "Sometimes, a date of 1706 is given for Cornelius birth. The brothers mentioned above are NOT the sons of Abraham Van Horne and Maria Provoost. Abraham and Maria had a son, Cornelius, in 1706, and two sons named, Abraham, in 1713 and 1719 ( years maybe off). All three of these children died young. "The correct parents for Cornelius and Abraham are Matthys Cornelissen and Fytie Adam Brouwer. Matthys was a Dane from Jutland and Fytie of German and Flemish origins. "The two best sources on the descendants of Matthys Cornelissen are Our Van Horne Kindred by Elsie O. Hallenbeck, 1958 and an article, The 1722 Conveyance, in the April, 1976, issue of De Halve Maen, by Paul E. Van Horn. Kindred is not perfect, but it is far better than any Van Horn/Van Horne genealogy prior to this date, and goes a long way to correcting the record."
"I just cannot see their point. I would rather have the right ancestor, no matter what warts they may have.
"If I were you, I would research this line as if you had no idea where it was going. In 1929, Marvin F. Van Horn published The Van Horn Family History. It was a compilation of all the preceding Van Horne genealogies, plus the pedigrees and family group sheet compiled in an effort to get a piece of the estate of one Abraham Van Horn who died intestate. Abraham was a descendant of Jan Cornelissen, so almost every pedigree in that book goes back to old JC. Matthys Cornelissen who happens to be my Van Horne ancestor is not even mentioned, and his sons are attached to another family.
"Every Van Horne genealogy up to 1958 was based on the faulty pedigrees published up to that date. Elsie's book is not without flaws, but it goes a long way to correct all of the errors made up to that time. For example, Elsie spends some time going over Matthys Dutch origins.
"WRONG, Matthys was from Jutland in Denmark, according to
his marriage record. How did Elsie make
that mistake? I can only speculate, but
she must not have seen the original church records. She must have used the Holland Society
transcriptions from the 1890s, which left out the place of origin.
"Enough of this, you are duly warned."
So that is where we are at this point. I will be publishing some material that I can trust here on the blog as I can put it together. It is time to start straightening the Van Horn family genealogy once and for all.
Cousin Larry Van Horn
TCCC Peachtree Spring 2023 Genealogy Classes
Here is a list of the Spring Community Enrichment genealogy classes scheduled to be taught at Tri-County Community College in Peachtree, NC for 2023.
To reserve your seat in class or sign-up call Lisa Long at 828-835-4241. Sorry, no remote learning for these classes is available, in-class learning only.
Genealogy – Searching for Your Ancestors: Who am I and where did I come from? It is that intriguing question that has made genealogy research one of America's most popular hobbies. This popular class offers beginner and experienced genealogists alike a fresh approach to genealogy research. Subjects cover the full gambit from organizing your research to exploring your family history using traditional and electronic research, social media, and our newest tool, DNA testing. Whether you are new to genealogy or have been family hunting since microfilm days, this course will assist you in researching your family in the 21st century. This course is a prerequisite for advanced genealogy courses offered at TCCC. 30 hrs.
Instructor: Van Horn Classroom: Enloe Room 133
January 31 – April 18 Tuesday
6:30 p.m. – 9:00 p.m. $80
Genealogy – Researching Your Genealogy on the Internet: An old favorite is back on the schedule! The Internet offers the genealogist a wonderful array of databases, records, and other resources for researching your family history. This course will teach you how to find genealogy databases and discover your family history on the Web. All the top sites such as Ancestry, FamilySearch, GenealogyBank, Chronicling America, Find A Grave, and more will be covered. While our beginner/intermediate genealogy class is not a prerequisite to taking this course, a basic understanding of genealogy research principles is a must. A laptop or tablet capable of wireless internet access is required for this class. Sign up early since this is one of the more popular genealogy classes at TCCC and seating is limited. 10 hrs.
Instructor: Van Horn Classroom: Enloe Room 133
February 2 – February 23 Thursday
6:30 p.m. - 9:00 p.m. $35
NEW - DNA Beginner/Intermediate: If you are researching your family history, taking an autosomal DNA test has become a must-do task. There is a myriad of companies and sites that you can either test at or upload your DNA results to that will help you find new cousins and add new ancestors to that family tree. This class will explore the basics (including all three DNA tests), where to test, and working your results after you have tested. 7.5 hrs.
Instructor: Van Horn Classroom: Enloe Room 133
March 2 – March 16 Thursday
6:30 p.m. – 9:00 p.m. $25
NEW - Genealogy – Busting Through Genealogy Brick Walls: Having trouble finding the elusive ancestor? Can't seem to get that lineage any further back? Then this class is tailor-made for you. In this genealogy brick wall class, you will learn techniques, tricks, tips, and the latest proven methods to bust through the brick walls in your genealogy. During the class, you will have the opportunity to work one-on-one with the instructor on your family genealogy brick wall. 12.5 hrs.
Instructor: Van Horn Classroom: Enloe Room 133
March 23 – April 20 Thursday
6:30 p.m. – 9:00 p.m. $40