Friday, August 12, 2011

In Search of the Elusive Sally Allen

I am down in Ft. Wayne, IN geeking out as I search the genealogy library here for my ancestor Sally Allen. 

I've heard about my DAR (Daughters of American Revolution) membership application, they are fine with all my ancestors with the exception of Sally Allen.  Ok, if you are not into genealogy - I know your eyes are starting to glass over - that's ok....lol

Sally is my 4th great grandmother.  She was born around 1786 (and yes..the date is 1786) in Orange County North Carolina; married John O'Daniel in 1800 and I have her on the 1850 census at her son's (Greenberry)  home at age 64.  I found her listed in her father's will and marriage index of her and her husband John.  And then she had disappeared....

The DAR would like me to see if I can find more documentation connecting her to her son Green.  I've found some fascinating info, but nothing to answer my question of Sally....oh well, I still have tomorrow. :-)

Sunday, August 7, 2011

Sheep, Sheep, Sheep....and Wool

 One thing Ireland has a lot of is sheep.  It is so interesting to see them grazing along side the road.  They are allowed to roam free, each sheep farmer has marked the back of their sheep with paint so he will know which one it his.

We stopped to visit a very interesting sheep farmer who trains his dogs to heard the sheep.  By using different tones in his whistle the dogs moved the sheep from up to down the hill and back again.  The farmer had different type of sheep to show us, each one produce a different type of wool.

And speaking of wool...every town we visited had a cute little wool shop, filled with lovely items.  The largest we visited was at Blarney.  I found sweaters, scarves, gloves and more here.  If you order on-line from them, they offer free shipping.  The quality of their items are wonderful and I would highly recommend them.