[Lauren BaRecall]

Thanks for the genealogy suggestions. That particular grandfather was the American, and at the same time, it was my grandmother's first entrance into the US. I believe the oral history to be true, especially due to some letters he sent my mother, and I can accept his birth not being recorded, but I can't find anyone anywhere. Not even the Federal Census, let alone the LDS website. Every once in awhile, I get re-curious and take another look.

Reconstruction should almost be renamed, "Retribution" for some of it aspects. Although any reconstruction effort anywhere is going to be difficult, I do believe that some designed it to punish and humiliate people.

Or rather, some administered it in a cruel and punishing way. I don't doubt that.

Many times soldiers, both Northern and Southern, lived on whatever they could scavenge, and Southern women did bear the brunt of it. BTW, I first saw Gone With the Wind when I was 14, and I remember being so glad that Melanie shot the bad Yankee, because he was a BAD Yankee. Women really were at the mercy of whoever passed through.

I will look up that prison. I take it that was where your husband's great grandfather was taken.

I'm finding your stories fascinating - this is the stuff that really fleshes out the documents and history. And they go to prove the point that this war was truly fought brother against brother.

[TNdandelion]

I’ve not found the LDS genealogy records to be accurate in my family’s case. One thing I have found with my mother inlaw’s family is the name was changed. I’m not sure it was on purpose but sometimes, the census taker spelled the name the way he wanted (or thought it was spelled) rather than how the family spelt it. Another obstacle is when an individual is born at about the same time of the census or shortly after. Sometimes they don’t get recorded until the next census....10yrs later and if the family moved...hah! It’s alot of fun and frustration. ;) Then there are county records that may have been destroyed, county lines that were redrawn, etc. My husband has a family line that kept hopping across the TN/VA state line. lol Oh...and one more thing...if you know the names of brothers or sisters...dont’ forget to check out their information. My husband’s grandmother was raised by her grandmother and eventually her aunt because her mother died during childbirth. Most fathers sent small children to live with other family members in those cases. Also, the elderly parents were often times living with their adult children. So, sometimes if an individual can’t be found with his/her own immediate family, check the extended family to see if they moved in. ;) Good luck!