Powers Family Reunion II

I had a good time this year. I drove down to Mt Sterling KY with my mom and grandma, worked on a few things in the car during the long drive (sewing, costume planning and a job application). While there, I chatted with some distant cousins and discovered that I have one that has the same hobby I do - costuming. I friended her on Facebook and proposed we hang out at DragonCon.

EDIT My distant costuming cousin's name is Melissa and she's descended from Silas Powers, the brother of my 3rd great grandfather Gilson Powers. If I'm using the cousin chart correctly and if she is the same generation as me which is likely given our close ages, especially since Silas and Gilson were only about two years apart, then we are 5th cousins. She emailed me recently and said she'd love to do dinner while we're at DragonCon.

The next reunion might not happen, unless someone steps in to organize it. The spearhead of the reunion so far has decided she'll help for the next one, but not be the main person.

Powers Family Reunion

The Powers Family Reunion is this weekend! I'm super excited to see all my cousins, and probably meet new ones. The reunion is for anyone descended from Jeremiah and Leah (McCarty) Powers.

Fearless Females March 24 - Shared Traits

March 24 — Do you share any physical resemblance or personality trait with one of your female ancestors? Who? What is it?

This question just makes me giggle. If you saw the women at one of the Powers family reunions, you would understand why. Because we ALL look alike. I’m not exaggerating, we do. I resemble my grandma Jenny to a great extent – same nose, same hair, similar body shape (thin, small breasts, big hips and thighs, tiny very high waist) and we have similar personalities – stubborn, opinionated, etc. The high small waist and larger hips and thighs is very predominate in my family. Even if we aren’t thin anymore, we keep a tiny waist when compared to the rest of our bodies. High cheekbones are also common (I frequently bemoan my ‘chipmunk cheeks’ in pictures where I am smiling).

Example: This is me and my mom's first cousin Carrie. See how much we look alike? We've even had non-relatives tell us we looked like sisters.

So yes, I do share physical resemblance to several of my female ancestors and current relatives. Because we all look alike. Its rather scary actually.

Mother to Daughter - The True Bloodline

Not that everything doesn't matter to some extent, but I personally feel that the best way to trace your blood is mother to daughter. After all, there's no proof that 100 years ago man fathered child, but you know that woman was the mother. One of the first things I did when I first got into genealogy was to trace my maternal line, mother to daughter. I traced back six generations before I hit a wall, one that I still have yet to break through.

I am Jennilee Cookman. I was born on Dec 21 1981 in Hamilton Ohio. My mother is Helen Marie Fink.

She was Born on June 3 1958 in Hamilton Ohio, at the same hospital I was born at actually - Fort Hamilton Hughes. She married my father, Clifford Ray Cookman, onJuly 13 1979 in Hamilton Ohio at Pleasant Ave First Church of God. She is the daughter of Virginia Lee Curtis.

Virginia (more commonly known as Jenny or Jenny Lee - guess where I got my name?) was born on September 27 1930 in Middletown Ohio. She married William Ripley Fink on 9 March 1953 in Middletown Ohio. She is the daughter of Sarah Helen Fox. (Guess where my mother got her name?)

Sarah Helen (also known as Helen or Sarie Ellie like her father called her) was Born February 1897 in Menifee County, Kentucky. She married Floyd Benjamin Curtis and died 22 December 1949 in Middletown Ohio, from tuberculosis. She was the daughter of Leah Powers and I think she was named after an aunt.

Leah (who my grandma Jenny was named after) was Born 1855 in Bath Co KY OR 8 Aug 1854 in Blackwater Morgan Co KY. She married James T Fox about 1883 and died March 30 1936 in Mt Sterling, Montgomery Co, KY. She was the daughter of Amanda Lyons. Children of Leah and James – Mariba, William “Billy”, Lizzie, Nannie and Helen.

Amanda was born September 11 1834 in Bath Co KY. She married Gilson Powers on September 25 1853 in Bath Co. KY and died between 1900 and 1907, maybe in 1903. She was the daughter of Martha Ann Jones. Interesting fact - Gilson's mother was named Leah, so its likely that they named their daughter after her.

I have never found very much information on Martha Ann. I don't know when she was born, I don't know when she died. All I know is that she married John Clark Lyons on March 11, 1833 in Bath County, Kentucky. My research has told me that this was probably a second marriage for her. Martha Ann already had a daughter named Lucy when she married John Clark Lyons and Lucy ended up married to a man named Jack Bashford. The fact that it was a second marriage is what gives us the problems -- No one seems to know what her maiden name was. Without knowing her maiden name, there's no way to know who her parents were. And that, my dear readers, is the brick wall.

So there you go. Six generations of my direct maternal line (well, seven if you count me). And the family tradition of naming our daughters after our mothers.