Use Your Genealogy Research to Teach Family History July 5, 2006
Editor’s Note: Pennee’s latest endeavors to teach us about our family history involve the children. She explains below.
I wrote the following story for the grandkids. We read it together on Easter Sunday, each taking turns reading a paragraph and then I had a few quiz questions [at the very bottom] to spark conversation. I called the quiz A Different Kind of Easter Egg Hunt. For instance we talked about what a homestead was, why they were homesteading, where Iowa was, and what was it like in 1851. I’ve started to use my genealogy research to teach the family about their heritage. We used a pedigree chart to understand how we were all related to James and Laurana Jane Briley.
“Meet Me In heaven, I Am Trusting Jesus”
By Pennee Murphree
James Briley was born in Tippecanoe or Clay County, Indiana on August 22, 1827. When he was twenty years old he moved to Fulton County, Illinois. Then in 1851, when he was twenty-four years old he went by Ox teams to the far western prairies of Iowa and settled on a piece of land in what is now Story County, Iowa. He served in the Civil War in the Iowa Infantry, the 13th Regiment
Anther family by the named of Zenor also made the difficult trip to Iowa in the same year. In the Zenor family was a daughter named Laurana Jane. Within a short time James Briley and Laurana Jane Zenor were married. On June 30, 1851 James and Laurana Jane had a son and they named him Issac Newton Briley. James and Laurana Jane Briley continued to live on and farm the land they homesteaded for many years.
They raised a family of seven children, one of which is my great grandmother, Iva Belle. Iva Bella married Ezra Ward. Iva Belle and Ezra had two children and named them Rupert Galen and Laurana Orris. Rupert Galen is my grandfather. I want to tell you these stories of our interesting family so you will learn about your wonderful heritage. Many of our ancestors were Christians. And many belonged to some kind of Christian church. James and Jane joined the United Brethren Church in 1856 and were active members.
Not all of our ancestors were Christians of course but most of them loved Jesus just as we do. When James Briley was sixty six years old he got very sick. He felt it was his last illness so he called his family to his bedside and told them he was soon to go. “O, do not weep,” He said, “but meet me in heaven. I am trusting Jesus.” He died on April 16, 1893 and was buried in the Ontario Cemetery in Ontario, Iowa. Many people said he was a good man and wish they could only live as well. Laurana Jane lived another nineteen years before she died on April 23, 1912. She was well loved and respected also.
[Questions designed for the Grandkids]
A Different Kind of Easter Egg Hunt
Can you find James W. Briley Laurana Jane on the pedigree chart?
Who was his daughter that married Ezra Ward?
How did James travel to Iowa?
What is a homestead?
Where was James Briley born?
In what year did James and Laurana Jane go to Iowa?
Where was Iowa?
How many states did James live in and what were they?
Was the trip to Iowa difficult?
What kind of roads do you think they had in Iowa in 1851?
What was Laurana Jane’s maiden name?
Who were Iva Bella and Ezra’s children?
How are you related to James and Laurana Jane?
What church did James and Laurana Jane belong to?
What did James say when he was dying?
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Comments»
What a delightful story! We were taught by our grandparents in the very same way. We had to recite our lineage and know the stories and with Mrs. Murph’s help, I hope to try to track down as many stories as I can. Thank you for all you do! xo