Researching Your Welsh Roots

Unrelated to my genealogy researches, I also enjoy writing stories. My husband shares my interests in these subjects and we sometimes collaborate on stories. (One of our collaborations has been published in the anthology Space Pirates, edited by David Lee Summers.) In association with a story we're working on, my husband was researching Welsh immigration to Ireland and came across the website Data Wales. Although the site's apparent focus is Wales, itself, it also provides a number of articles on emigration from Wales and, in particular, on American immigrants of Welsh ancestry. If your tree includes ancestors from Wales, you are almost certain to find the site of interest.

Genealogists Making a Difference

Kiva is "a non-profit organization with a mission to connect people through lending to alleviate poverty. Leveraging the internet and a worldwide network of microfinance institutions, Kiva lets individuals lend as little as $25 to help create opportunity around the world." As a member of the Genealogists for Families team on Kiva, I'm proud to be able to help others improve their lives and their communities.

Kiva maintains a database of people from around the world who have dreams and goals, but lack the means to accomplish them. Kiva then makes it possible for you to help those people realize their goals.

Making loans through Kiva is super easy. Decide how much you're willing and able to loan (there's a $25 minimum), select a recipient from among the many worthy individuals and groups listed on Kiva, and confirm your willingness to contribute to their project.

Kiva is even making it easier to get started than ever! Right now, existing lenders can invite their friends to join and both will receive a $25 credit toward their first loan. So, if you accept my invitation to join Kiva, you and I will both be able to make loans of $25, without having to spend a penny. It's a great opportunity! Just follow this link to join and get $25 to make your first loan.

My Paternal Grandparents

Inez Minerva "Sissy" Herrington
b. July 20, 1890, Pensacola, FL, USA
d. January 24, 1986, Pensacola, FL, USA     

My Granny Sissy, as we called her, was the only daughter of Isaac Newton Herrington I (b. 20 Dec 1846 in Laurel, Jones, Mississippi, USA, d. 8 Jan 1913 in Pensacola, Escambia, Florida, USA) and Ezella F. Boykin (b. 26 Aug 1866 in Quincy, Gadsden, Florida, USA, d. 14 Jan 1959 in Mobile, Mobile, Alabama, USA). She had two brothers, Eugene (b. 27 Sep 1886 in Florida, USA, d. 4 Jul 1905 in Brent, Escambia, Florida, USA), and Isaac Newton Herrington II (b. 20 August 1894 in Pensacola, Escambia, Florida USA, d. 20 June 1979 in Mobile, Mobile, Alabama, USA). According to the record of Eugene's death submitted to Ancestry.com by one of my cousins, Eugene's death, which occurred when he was 18, was as a result of drowning in the Perdido River; I do not know the circumstances which led to his drowning, but note that it occurred on Independence Day.

My grandmother was born in Pensacola and lived there her whole life, except for going away for college. During World War I, she served as a Yomanette at the School of Aviation affiliated with the Pensacola Naval Air Station. She was a religious woman and  a charter member of the East Brent Baptist Church. My father has spoken of how she enjoyed inviting visiting preachers to her home for dinner. While in college, she studied education, and subsequent to her graduation she taught for a time in a one-room schoolhouse.

Elmer Bruce Lloyd
b.  May 2, 1886, MI, USA
d. January 19, 1948, Pensacola, FL, USA

My grandfather was the son of Samuel Hughes Lloyd (b. 20 Mar 1849 in Schomberg, Ontario, Canada, d. May 1938 in Saulte Ste Marie, Chippewa, Michigan, USA) and Jane Ellen Higgins (b. 15 Jul 1859 in Canada, d. 1917 in Sault Ste Marie, Ontario, Canada). He grew up in Upper Michigan, in the Saulte Ste Marie area with family on both sides of the border. As a boy, Lloyd, as my grandmother was to eventually refer to him, attended a one-room schoolhouse for a short while, leaving school after either the third or eighth grade, depending upon whose memory is being called upon. However, he was what we now call a life-long learner who enjoyed reading widely, becoming a self-educated man. Lloyd submitted his draft registration card in Chippewa, Michigan in 1917 and joined the navy in January of 1918. According to my dad:

At the end of his first year he was promoted to Chief Petty Officer. After his initial enlistment in Michigan he was transferred to Pensacola and it was my mother who was a secretary on the naval base at the time that handled the paperwork. That was how they met. I know that he served on the Idaho, a battleship that carried three planes on the aft deck and got them in the air with a catapult. Then later he was on the Ranger, an aircraft carrier. When, at the start of WWII, he heard the other old timers complain about the "90 day wonders" it amused him that he had once been in that category himself.

Lloyd's strength, humor, and mechanical know-how were the subject of many of the stories my dad told about his father, and I hope to share some of these in future posts.