You’ve gotta’ see this video!
Yesterday, I mentioned that I have been doing genealogy for 39 years. That would mistakenly indicate that I know something about how to research. I don’t. However, I do have a great desire to find any information about my family that might be available.
This is where you come in. Have you ever heard of my gramma’? Before she passed away, she told me that her birth name was Mary Cecile Orealee Thompson. She went by the name Orealee and was born about 19 April 1897, possibly in Mississippi. She married Will Mock in about 1915. They would eventually have four children.
My gramma’ remarried twice more or perhaps even three times, after hard times left her a widow with small children.
My gramma’ Orealee has been very elusive and I would love to find where she has hidden all of her records. If you know anything of this fine lady, will you please share with me? She was one of the greatest treasures in my life and I would like for my posterity to know her. Can you help? Anything you can offer will be appreciated more than you can possibly know and I thank you.
yayashome 
Oh, good idea to ask around cyberspace! I wish I knew how to help you find her. 😦 I love your adorable blog. 🙂
Thank you, Kristi. I have so much fun with it. I'm not so sure I should be allowed to have this much fun. haha. ~ Yaya
Yaya, Have you joined Ancestry.com? I know it's a place in cyberspace that some people find out lots of information.One way to track her would be backwards through birth certificates of her children. The other key pieces of information would be death certificates, marriage certificates and Social Security numbers.That's not really helpful because like I said, I don't have first-hand experience, but I've heard from beginning genealogists that you can get a 30 day membership to Ancestry.com and they're helpful.If Gramma came to this country from abroad, you can log onto Ellis Island and search for some info.It's a big, time-consuming project…but if you find anything, it will have been worth it.
YaYa, I was a member of Ancestry.com while I researched my family. One of the coolest tools they have to offer is their discussion boards. I found a missing link by searching through a post that a cousin (who I've never met) posted back in 2005. We started emailing and swapping notes and I was able to piece together a puzzle. It is so worth the membership fee!
Hello PJ. Hi Amy. Thanks for the good advice. I was a member of ancestry.com for a number of years. Sadly, the economy has adjusted my ability of being able to access such wonderful sites.Even when I was a member, though, I was greatly handicapped by my lack of comprehension. Dyslexia and Adult ADD tend to scramble my brain. However, I am getting help, now, from someone who knows considerably more than I do about researching Family History. Still, my gramma' just keeps hiding out. That's why I thought it might help to put the question out there for all the world to see. I really hope it brings in some leads.Thank you all so much for your support. If you happen to be visiting with anyone whom you think might even know the tiniest bit of information, I would so appreciate it if you would send them my way. Thanks, again. ~ Yaya
Hi, Yaya,I just noticed you left a comment on VBT – Writers on the Move. Thanks so much for stopping by. You seemed to be wondering what we were doing. We're a group of authors using cross-promotion to create visibility. In other words we have ongoing virtual book tours. The group's been going strong for one year now, that's why it's an anniversary tour this month.Thanks again for stopping by,Karen Cioffi
Hi Karen,I'm glad you came by. I don't entirely understand, but I'll be stopping over to your site to learn more. See ya' soon. ~ Yaya
Hi Yaya! First, I want to thank you for becoming a follower of my blog, Genealogy Traces! I hope we have a long friendship through our blogs. Glad you found and read my post about my Indian ancestors. Sounds like the one I wrote about came from the same Mississippi Choctaws as your Gramma.You may already know this but I looked on Ancestry.com and found a Theodore Mock married a Mary Chany on 29 Feb 1864 in ADAMS County, Mississippi. I will look further for you and see if I can locate more information. You can email me, if you'd like. My email address is on my profile page.Ancestry.com said that their "collection represents information originating on courthouse marriage licenses in various counties in Mississippi. Copies of these records may be obtained from the county clerk in the county in which the license was issued. This was usually the county that the bride was from. Microfilmed copies of these records may also be found at the Family History Library (FHL) in Salt Lake City or possibly at the state archives."
Hi Judy,I have seen the record with both the Bill of Sale and the marriage license on the same page. I know that they are my grandparents. And I have searched high and low on ancestry.com. In fact, I think everybody and his brother's dog has searched for my Mock family line and my Gramma' Orealee.Louisiana and Mississippi have been hiding my ancestors so well for so long that I dread to think I shall never find them.Thanks for any help you can give. I'd really like to link to the family who made it possible for me to be here. ~ Yaya
Here is what I have found. Orealee's husband was quite a bit older than her. No wonder she was married again. 1920 US Census: Mississippi, Adams, Natchez Ward 2, District 8, page 31Mock, Will age 50. b. Miss.Mock, Orealee, age 23Mock, Willie B. age 3yr. 10mo. Mock, David, age 1yr 4mo?________________________________1900 US Census: Mississippi, Jackson, Southeast District 40, page 37Thompson, Alex, b. may 1858, Mississippi, parents- Mississippi, raftsman-logsThompson, Louisianna, June 1861, Alabama, had 7 children 5 lived, parents Father Tennessee, mother- S. Carolina.Thompson, Albert, b. Aug. 1887, Miss.Thompson, William H, b. apr, 1890, Miss. Thompson, Lola L, b. feb 1892, Miss.Thompson Mary O, b. March, 1897, Miss. ________________________________________________I think that Mary O Thompson may be the right one. Her mother had the unusual first name-Louisiana.