This post is about two months or so late. Any perusal of my blog would inform a person that I am not a proficient blogger. Yet, I am resolved to some improvement.
On January 14, I returned home to the US and was picked up by 2nd brother, Jason. It was glorious being home after a year and ½. Jason was and is going through some tough times, so I was happy to hang out with him. He was building a mobile tent platform on the top of a trailer. This was extensively for camping and traveling with his new Jeep. He has now fallen into that bottomless pit of Jeep owners, started by my cousin Jacob. I didn’t not have the heart to tell him that I hate camping. To me, it seems mainly consists of being hungry, cold and wet. These feelings are part of the reason I live in a city with 14 million people. However, I was happy to help him because I love him and that is what he is interested in. To be honest, though, neither one of us are competent carpenters. Ok, neither competent nor carpenters, which is why this project required repeated trips to Home Depot.
I also talked him into a trip to Baldwin Co., Alabama. I think we both had a good trip as we skirted around the east bank of the Tensas River, looking for the old homestead of our ancestor Michael Milton. We also went to Bay Minette where I picked up several documents that I had previously lost track of a couple of years before. One of these was a copy of a bill of sale from 1801. I was allowed to hold it in my hands, which was awesome but a little nerve-wracking. I had some copies made for our uncle, George Milton, as he had never seen these before. Uncle George has been the principle genealogist of the Milton family for over 50 years. I merely stand on the shoulders of a giant.
On Sunday the 18th, I drove Morgan’s car (Jason let me borrow it as she is away at school in Hawaii) to Doug’s house. It felt good to drive. I hung out with Doug (my 3rd brother) for a couple of days. We went to the genealogy section at the Jefferson Parish Library. I found a book there that lists a marriage document for Michael Milton at the Mobile Archdiocese Archives. I eventually paid $10 each for this and a baptism certificate for William and Adelaide Milton. We did have plans to drive out to S. Carolina to visit Jacob, but it did not come to pass due to a sickness and poor logistics on my part. Still, I was very happy to see Dougie. He told me he is planning to have a surgery sometime in the future, something that I much more hesitant about any surgery after the death of our Aunt Carol.
I then drove home to see Dad and John and other family members. On Friday the 23rd, I went up to Woodville, MS. I was researching my 5th great-grandparents, Barnabas and Margaret Hux Partin. I found quite a bit up there, including the marriage document of my 3rd great-grandparents, John and Emily Partin Moore. The courthouse was quite nice and I enjoyed the area, as it was my first time there.
About 4 or 5 days into the trip, I had to switch from the guest bedroom (my old room) to John’s travel trailer. The bed that Dad & Darlene (my stepmother) have in the guestroom killed my back, causing me to walk like an old man in need of a cane. Living in the trailer was frankly great, as I have come to greatly appreciate my privacy. Also, it allowed me to experience life in a small place. For the last couple of months, I had been watching Tiny House Nation on TV. I think that this movement to smaller space is something I would like to try out and the trailer gave me an opportunity.