Liddie and Calvin Caston son Isham Caston

Isham Caston

Isham Caston is thought to be a son of Liddie and Calvin Caston.  He is listed with his parents in the 1870 Pike County,  At the time of the enumeration, he was 12 years old with a calculated year of birth of 1858.   The 1870 Federal census does not identify familial relationships.

Year: 1870; Census Place: Township 2 Range 9 East, Pike, Mississippi; Roll: M593_745; Page: 128B; Image: 262; Family History Library Film: 552244

Caston Calvin 38

                   Lydia 43

             Thomas 17

             Elvira 15

             Rosann 14

             Isham 12

             Green 10

             Silas 7

             Jesse 4
             Adeline 3

His name appears again in the Pike County School census in 1878 as 19 years old.  In the school records, the location and a child’s name is listed but not the parent or guardian.  Isham name is recorded with other children who have been identified to be children of Liddie and Calvin.  

 "Mississippi, Enumeration of Educable Children, 1850-1892; 1908-1957," images, <i>FamilySearch</i> (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.3.1/TH-1-14208-33487-64?cc=1856425&wc=10918067 : accessed 22 Feb 2014), Pike > 1878 > image 111 of 200.

His name does not appear with the family in the 1880 census. He would have been 21 years old and possible living on his own.  I have not been able to locate him in the federal census or any other records.  I have not performed an exhaustive search and I do not know if he had any descendants but the search continues.  Possibly  a family member will know what happen to him.

-----The Tree Gardener

To Tell The Truth

Don't Always Follow The Crowd

In the process of my genealogy research, I have tried to perform a reasonable search of information that is available. That being said, I do not know all the information that is available about a family member or family.  My research is also a search. I am constantly looking for information. I try to record the source origin, correlate it with known facts and look for details. The internet is loaded with genealogy sites free and paid such as  Ancestry.com, Family Search, Newspaper.com, FindaGrave,  Genealogybank, Fold3 and  Heritage Quest to name only a few. These sites often has transcription errors of names, sex and possibly race.   

Some of the sites employ elements of crowdsourcing. Crowdsourcing is a technique in which an organization or individuals use many people or a crowd for pay or free to give information to solve a problem. Wikipedia is a prime example.  Anyone can edit and contribute to Wikipedia.  Ancestry.com family trees also uses crowdsourcing.   Is all the information true?    

The majority of people in my trees have been dead decades ago and I have met very few of their descendants. I am on a mission. I feel that my African family with disseminated trees with roots in America have a story that is worth telling. That is why I have this blog.   Through the years I have tried to educate myself by attending genealogy conferences and reading books.  I have visited the National Archives, Mississippi Archives, Tennessee Archives, Allen County Library, Family History Library and various other libraries. I am a member of the National Genealogy Society but not a certified genealogist.

  
 I also have attended family reunions and communicated with previously unknown cousins. I will be forever grateful for meeting my cousin the late Roger Dale Wilson.  He showed me the Caston and Brumfield connection through Liddie Brumfield Caston.    I would like to acknowledge my cousins who helped me along my mission Lexie Mae Bullock Johnson, Lexie Pearl Smith Elmore, Daisy Smith, Gerald Hollins, Manual Graves, Carletta Graves, Eddie Brumfield Jr., Kerry Shelton, Belinda Howard Cox and the late Eddie J. Brumfield Sr.  

Ancestry.com has used crowdsourcing on the family trees they have listed.  I have looked on Ancestry.com at other family trees listed and there are errors in the information.  There are also errors in the information that I have on my trees on Ancestry.com.  When I find the true information, I try to make corrections.

Most recently on my tree, I listed Annie Gatlin who married Thomas J. Brumfield as a child of Jack Gatlin Sr. and Alice Conerly. When I reviewed my sources, Annie Gatlin was never listed as a child of Jack Gatlin Sr. and Alice Conerly. I really don’t know where I got that information.  I did not record my source which is a newbie mistake. The information I recorded was wrong and three other people put the wrong information on their Ancestry.com trees.

My lesson is to check and record the source.  Don't always follow the crowd because the crowd could be wrong.

------The TreeGardener

Eddie J. Brumfield Sr Birthday

 Eddie J. Brumfield Sr.

On April 12, 2017,  Eddie J. Althea and Kim 

 I had an opportunity to visit with my cousins Eddie J. and two of his daughters Althea and Kim on April 12, 2017 at his home in New Orleans. He was sitting at a computer playing solitaire with a bright smile and sharp mind. We talked about family and laughed about the past. 

Eddie J. Brumfield Sr. April 12, 2017

Eddie J. was to celebrate his 100th birthday on May 6, 2017. A great celebration was planned by family and friends for a man who had an incredible life. He passed on Thursday evening May 4, 2017 two days before his birthday.   

I am grateful for knowing and having an opportunity to spend time with my cousin Eddie J. Brumfield Sr. May the love of GOD enfold the family and wonderful memories sustain during this time.  I know he is resting in the arms of GOD.

There is a time for everything and a season for every activity under the heavens a time to be born and a time to die ...Ecclesiastes 3:1-2 NIV

-------The Tree Gardener