Walter Allen Cornett Sr ~ UPDATED

My grandfather is being very elusive. I am having a hard time finding information on him. So far, I have some paperwork compiled by a family member of our family tree, some old black and white scanned photos, names, dates, and family members both past and present. Some are familiar to me and some are not. But that is the love of Genealogy research! Discovering family and learning, reading, and visualizing the lives they have led in the past.


But I will tell you what I do know of him so far. Walter Allen Cornett Sr. was born on December 29, 1909 and died nearly five years before I was born, he died on June 30, 1967. He married my grandmother, Lucia Rose Cornett on July 15, 1928. From what my mother tells me, they had 9 children together including a Dorothy Mae who was born on April 11,1930 and died May 10, 1930. She was only a month old when she passed away. I'm not sure what the cause of her death was. He was in the military, but I'm not sure which branch, what his rank was, military responsibilities, or even how long he was in the service.


According to the Social Security Death Index (SSDI), he was 57 years old and 5 months! Pretty exact I would say. I am still trying to find information on him, sent out emails, Facebook messages to family, and once I get more information I will be sure to post an update!


On Familysearch.org, I found the 1930 Census information on Walter's household during that time. The information found is below.


Name:Walter A Cornett
Census Event Date:1930
Event Place: Black Lick,Wythe,Virginia
Gender:Male
Age:21
Marital Status:Married
Race:White
Birthplace:Virginia
Estimated Birth Year:1909
Immigration Year: N/A
Relationship to Head of Household: Head (SELF)
Father's Birthplace:Virginia
Mother's Birthplace:Virginia
Enumeration District Number: 0004
Family Number:469
Sheet Number and Letter: 4B
Line Number: 59
Nara Publication:T626
Roll 2465
Film Number:2342199
Digital Folder Number:4547863
Image Number:00576


Walter A Cornett, Married at age 21 to Spouse Lucy R Cornett age 15.


Please Note: In the 1930 Federal Census- my grandmothers name is stated as Lucy R Cornett but in actuality her name is Lucia Rose Cornett. I guess that is the problem with Census takers, a lot of misspellings in the names and such, which makes it harder to discern your research at times.

Source Citation

"United States Census, 1930," index and images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/CJPG-ZW2 : accessed 16 May 2012), Walter A Cornett, Black Lick, Wythe, Virginia.

Below are some of the photos I have of them. Since I am in the process of moving, I will have to wait until I unpack and get settled to see if I have any other photos I can add to this blog about Walter! Please be patient....

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Cornett Family Genealogy Books

As I am scouring the internet for factual data, I just decided to Google my grandmother's name, Lucia Cornett. (Happy Mother's Day grams!)  I came across her online obituary and I can't believe almost two years has passed since she became one of God's perfect angels. I am saddened by her loss but at the same time I know I will one day meet her again. For those of you who know me personally, you know that I was a small child when my parents divorced and I moved away from the Cornett side of my family. This is where I want to apologize for not staying in close contact with my family. Yes, I was only 6 years old but still feel like maybe I could have at least wrote letters to my grandma or something? Who knows what could have been if I had. But on the bright side of the situation, I have made contact with my Cornett family on Facebook! We stay in touch, communicate, share photos and our life events as they are happening or will happen in the near future. For this, I am thankful.


Sorry for rambling, so back to the internet search! Searching Google I found another name that was familiar due to past research I have done in the past. Archelus Cornutt. It's discouraging as surnames have changed in their spellings over the centuries. Apparently there is a book out there somewhere called, Descendants of Archelus Cornutt: The Son of James Cornutt, 1743-1956 written by Hannah Alice Cornett Magee. I then "Googled" the books title and author and came across the Amazon web page- I must say I had no luck in finding the book because it is no longer in print. But doing more research on this matter, I found out that the book may be located at the Laurel County Historical Society in Kentucky. So now I am on the search for this book and hopefully I will have some luck tracking it down. I wonder if any of my Cornett relatives have a copy? It would be nice if I could even find an e-book for my Kindle regarding this particular book. By the way, I found out about this book by reading the Cornett Family Forums on Ancestry.com. I will share the link below if anyone is interested in this particular family lineage.


Links:
Laurel County, Kentucky Historical Society


Ancestry Cornett Surname Forum


Image Source: Cornett Family Crest

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Happy Mother's Day

I want to wish all the mothers out there a very special Happy Mother's Day. Enjoy your day~ you deserve it! I am spending my Mother's Day with my mom today and wanted to share some photos of our morning at the beach! Have a wonderful day!

Kalama Beach, Hawaii

Flowers seen on the walking trail to Kalama Beach

Me, Myself and I

My Mother Enjoying the Ocean

What a Beautiful Morning It Is!

Footprints In The Sand

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Antique Bible Find

I am in the process of moving into an apartment in Honolulu and I just thought I would browse through the Antiques section of the Honolulu Craigslist. I was actually searching for antique colored glass bottles of different shapes and sizes and came across an ad for a Bible from the year 1888! The ad for the Bible said it was purchased from a George V. Jones of Boston, Massachusetts. They paid $1.00 for 12 months and the original receipt was still tucked inside the Bible. 


Talk about history! There is a family tree written inside this Bible, written about the Andrew McIntire family. What a great find this would be for someone researching the McIntire family tree. Born 1835. The Bible is called "The Parallel Bible"  and also includes a Biblical dictionary, Cities of the Bible, and illustrations. The Bible is not fully intact and is in fact missing the books of Matthew, Mark, and Luke. The rest of the books seem to be intact except for those three mentioned. The Bible also includes a Chronological Index and 1000 Questions and Answers of the Old and New Testaments. 


The person who wrote the ad goes on to say that there were also a few family pictures that were taken back then of the McIntire family. "The reading is so interesting you can read for hours. The cover is intact and is almost like an old leather." 


Location: Mililani, Hawaii
Price- $300


I hope this post helps someone that is searching for this particular family in their research. What a great find! I would love to find something like this as it relates to my own family!  


Image Source: Parallel Bible Of 1884

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Monday's Memories

Today was a beautiful day here in the islands of Hawaii. The photos below were taken with just an Iphone camera! Not bad for a cell phone camera. I would swear I was a beach bum or a mermaid in another life; as much as I love the ocean, I can never get enough of it! The water was just cold enough to be shocking to my sun kissed skin. 

The beach was full of both tourists and local people, you would think it was the weekend or summer break. I thoroughly enjoyed the cerulean blue water, the silky fine sand in between my toes, the balmy ocean breeze, and the smell of the salty air. When I go to places like this, I love to just watch people just to see what they do. Even though I live here, it's fun to watch the keiki's (young children) play in the water, carry their boogie boards- which looks much larger than the children. But they are having the time of their lives, trying to catch the colorful fish in their little sand buckets, building sand castles and just having fun like little kids do. They are so carefree and enjoyable to watch. This one little boy came up to me and my friend today with the biggest smile on his face, carrying a boogie board. How can you not smile back and say hello? 

Many people become so preoccupied with their own personal lives and the stress they may carry on their shoulders that they seem to forget to stop and take a look around them and consider the blessings that God has already given them. So when I feel all out of sorts and stressed, where do you think I go? I go to the beach of course! I go to my "happy place" and just sit down and watch the waves come in and go back out into the vast ocean. For me, it's very calming and it's almost like the waves pull all my stress and problems of the day and take it to the ocean. I hope that makes sense to whoever is reading this blog. But seriously, for me, the ocean has this peaceful way of making me feel like a brand new person. I end up being stress free and makes me feel like I can take on the world! 

These are my Monday Memories... 

                                                                                             

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DAR~ A Free Genealogy Resource

Image Source:
DAR Logo

DAR- Daughters of the American Revolution is a free resource for genealogists and offers aid in their research. The (GRS) Genealogical Research System is a collection of databases, which provides access to the many materials that have been collected over time. The DAR was founded in 1890, the members are passionate about their research findings and are committed to preservation of the history of our ancestors.


This genealogical resource has many volunteers who have scanned and indexed years worth of documents and other materials which can be found in the online database. There is a drawback to sharing this information with others, because of proprietary information and data, and under no circumstances may it be shared or published.


If you are like me, an amateur genealogist, or you may even be a genealogy expert, the DAR could be a stepping stone to finding your ancestral ties that you may have been seeking for so long. It is definitely worth a try, don't you think? Maybe we can knock down some of these brick walls we have encountered and find some really valuable documents that will only further our research and prove who we are and where we come from. It's not just about where you, your parents or grandparents were born and the dates of birth, or even how many children they may have had. To me, and this is my own personal opinion on the matter, genealogy research is about finding out more about who my family really was, what they looked like, their way of life, the career choices they may have made and so many other points of their lives and the direction that those points have taken them over the years. 


I recently received an email from a family member, who as it turns out, was researching the same family surnames that I was. Imagine not knowing that you had a family member and didn't even realize that they were family until you connected through a genealogy resource! Anyhow, back to the email! She has been verified by the DAR and is in the process of getting it signed by officials in Washington D.C. So I can't wait to find out if she was successful in finding the data she needs to prove her lineage and connection to James Canute Cornett! 


I am definitely going to be researching this DAR to gain a more in-depth understanding. So you may see future postings related to the Daughters of the American Revolution. Who knows, maybe I will also find information on some of my Sutherland and Canute ancestors.


Good luck in your research!

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