Texas First Families!

It's been six months. I could say something trite about how busy I've been, but it's true. I'm fully taking advantage of being retired.

About 18 months ago, I was able to make the link between my gg-grandfather, Thomas H. Probert, and his father, William E. Probert. One of the interesting discoveries was that he was a "Fife Major" (literally playing a flute-like instrument called a fife) in the War for Texas Independence in 1837. He was 47 years old when he left his wife and children and headed to Texas along with more than 100 other volunteers from Lexington, Kentucky. Here are a few posts related to his story:

http://jonesfamilymatters.blogspot.com/2012/06/war-of-texas-independence.html
http://jonesfamilymatters.blogspot.com/2012/07/in-his-own-words.html
http://jonesfamilymatters.blogspot.com/2012/09/all-for-naught.html

It became apparent that if I was willing to document this relationship that my family could qualify for "Texas First Families." I know from experience that compiling one of these applications requires you to really organize the information you have and "fill in the blanks" if you find missing information. I was up to the challenge.

I put together an application and waited for the review committee to request additional information. (I've never submitted a lineage application without the reviewers wanting clarification or more documentation). Imagine my surprise when this beautiful certificate arrived in the mail six weeks later. I must be getting good at this. Based on this, I know that I could also apply for the Daughters of the Republic of Texas -- maybe a 2014 project.

Yesterday I also submitted an application for the Daughters of the American Revolution. Vincent Wainright was our family's "patriot" through the Jones/Wainright line. Vincent served as a "Minuteman" in New Jersey during the Revolutionary War. It could be months before I know the outcome of that one.

So I hope the drought is over. I have a lot of information recently discovered from newspapers about Thomas Probert, our gg-grandfather from Mt. Sterling, Kentucky. I look forward to sharing it all with you.