City Directories Aren’t Just for City Folk

When I listen to podcasts about genealogy, I often hear people mentioning finding good clues in city directories.  In my mind, I always imagined New York City, Boston, Philadelphia, and maybe Dallas and Houston.  But my ancestors were farmers.  They didn’t live in big cities like that.  I figured I was out of luck.

But ancestry.com recently posted enhanced indexes of city directories, so I thought I’d give them a look.  Much to my delight, I found that Texas was one of the states included – and specifically there were directories for Abilene, Waco, and San Antonio, all cities where some of my direct ancestors have lived.

I checked for Collins surname in the Abilene city directories. I was surprised to find my great grandfather Albert Buell Collins in several (1909, 1914, 1917, 1919, 1921, 1924, 1926) directories. The surprise came because he was a farmer. Furthermore, the 1910 US Census showed him with his family in Roby, 50 miles away. My grandfather’s memoirs mentioned moving to Abilene so that his older brother could attend high school, but the dates weren’t mentioned. These directories help flesh out that information. 

There were several Collins in these directories, some known relatives.  It makes me wonder if there are any other relatives lurking there.


The Abilene entries sent me on successful tangents to San Antonio, Dallas, and Houston where family members moved as they established their own careers.

I also checked out Lester Loyd Edmonds in the Waco city directories.  I found him in the 1923, 1926, 1928, 1930, 1932, and 1934 directories.  I found one new address for him, plus plenty of evidence of his employment at Piggly Wiggly Stores.  It also provided some tips for his sister Blanche and her husband James Blaine Gilmore.  I’d really like to find and get in touch with her descendants.

Oh, and the advertisements are a hoot, too.  Check out this one from the 1919 Waco directory:

Note the 2-digit phone number!

Thankful Thursday: Volunteers

This past week I was the beneficiary of the efforts of a Find A Grave volunteer who went over and above the call of duty.  I just had to give him a shout out.

Grammy sometimes spoke of her “Uncle U”.  His name was Uriah Collins, and he was actually her great uncle, her grandfather’s brother. During part of her childhood, Grammy lived with her grandparents (Albert Buell Collins and Amanda Jane Perryman Collins).  Uncle U lived down the road in Hidalgo County, Texas.

Uriah Collins and his wife Ida Barber Collins are buried in Abilene Texas.  I discovered that their oldest son was also buried in Abilene Municipal Cemetery through Find A Grave, but here was no photograph.  I requested a photo of Ralph Stillman Collins’ grave marker.

If you are unaware, Find A Grave has a matching system that notifies volunteers and photo requests based on where the volunteers live and where the cemeteries are located.

I quickly forgot about my request as I worked on other parts of my family history.

Then I got the notification that a volunteer had posted a photo of the stone for Ralph Collins.  I excitedly clicked on the link for the James Faulkenberry, the volunteer who uploaded the photo, to post a “thank you”.  End of story, or so I thought.

James shared with me his story of the search for Ralph Collins’ grave.  He found a large Collins marker and stones for Uriah and Ida Collins and suspected he was in the right place.  However, there was no stone for Ralph.  Determined, he returned the next day with his shovel, hoe, and probe.  His efforts paid off, however – he found Ralph’s marker long covered by grass and dirt, 2 to 3 inches down.  He cleared the stone and took the photo.

Besides the obvious extra effort, there are a couple of other things that I’d like to point out about James.  First of all, he is not related to the Collins.  He did this purely out of a volunteer’s generosity.  Secondly, this was Abilene in August.  The temperature was in the triple digits both days he was out there at the cemetery.

When I asked James for permission to use his name in this post, he granted it and said,

I really try to go the extra mile when the cemetery web site says there is a marker and I can't find one!  That's why I try to have a hoe or shovel in my pickup when I go. 

I look for a grave marker in the section where someone is buried, even if the website says there is no marker.  A couple of times, even after 10 or 20 years, the funeral home marker is still there and still readable!

He also sent me pictures of his adventure, including this one that shows how the graves are arranged.


Here’s sending a big shout out to James Faulkenberry for his extra efforts to help a stranger and preserve a grave marker.

The Collins Family Chest

I have never seen the Family Chest in person, but I hope to some day.  The story of the chest comes from the hand of my great grandfather, Albert Buell Collins, and was handwritten by him in 1922.  I have modernized the spelling and punctuation, and have added just a few editorial comments in [braces].

The tree that this chest was made from grew on my father’s, Thomas A. Collins’, farm in Russell County, Kentucky.

This farm was transferred to my brother, Samuel B. Collins sometime in the seventies [1870s].  It furnished shelter and shade for my brothers S. B. and Uriah when we were boys.  Uriah and I left there in the early eighties and went to Texas.  Sam remained on the old homestead or a part of it. 

After I had been away for about thirty six years, Wife [Amanda Jane Perryman] and I went back to visit our old homes, and while there found the old cedar grove nearly all gone.  In looking around, I found the trunk of one tree that had been cut about two years but in good condition.

Wife and I conceived the idea of having a chest made of it.

We told Sam our plans and he said, “I am delighted with it and I will haul it to my sawmill and saw the lumber for you”, which he did. 

Then we told my sister Susie Antle about it and she said, “My husband, Sampson Antle, who is a carpenter, will make it for you.” When she told him about it, he seemed to be delighted and took great pains with it.

Then my niece became interested – Kate Browning – and said, “I will have my husband Sam Browning to haul it to the station for you.”

After we got home in Texas, we decided to give it to our only daughter, Beulah Emma Williams who was living in New Mexico at that time.  Two years later, she came to visit us, at Abilene, Texas.  We presented it to her with this little history, hoping it will remain in the family as long as possible.

As you can see from the story, this is truly a Family Chest, as many family members participated in its creation.