I found "Grandpa Celie"!

Last year I wrote a blog post about the mystery surrounding "Grandpa Celie". Thanks to genetic genealogy I can now put a name to my fourth great-grandfather, Andrew C. Kelley.

Photo from a Davis distant cousin who said 
"Grandpa Celie" is written on the back.

Meet Andrew C. Kelley

There remains much to learn about this man, but I do know that he and his first wife Mary, known as Polly, had at least five children:

• James Wesley Kelley, born about 1829 in Wayne County, Missouri
• my ancestor, Theresa Jane "Thursa" Kelley, born about 1833 probably in Arkansas.
• Martha Kelley, born about 1834 in Missouri
• Rebecca Massy Kelley, born 16 March 1836 in Arkansas
• son Kelley, born about 1838 

The family was living in Wayne County, Missouri, in the southeast corner of the state, from at least 1829. In as early as 1837 a record is found for Andrew in Ripley County, Missouri naming him Postmaster. Ripley County was formed in 1833 from part of Wayne County, so the family probably didn't move. They remained in Ripley County for the 1840 census. 

The son born about 1838 is only found on the 1840 census as a tick mark. Polly was living in 1840 but died sometime soon after. Neither can be found after 1840 where the family is listed as living in Ripley County, Missouri.

The marriage of Andrew C Kelley to Mary Wallis in 1842 took place in Randolph County, Arkansas. Randolph County, Arkansas neighbors Ripley County, Missouri to the south. In 1847 the couple welcomed a son, Thomas D. Kelley. Sadly, this Mary Kelley is believed to have died in 1849. 

Andrew married Lucy Ann McManus in 1849, soon after the death of his second wife. The 1850 census for Ripley County, Missouri shows the newlywed couple with his daughter Martha, his son Thomas, and her daughter Elender Meders. Eldest son James is living in a household as a laborer. Andrew's daughter Thursa has married John Davis and has her younger sister Rebecca living with them.

I found a listing in the 1860 census for A. C. Kelly in Ripley County, Missouri. He is the right age and in the right place, but has three females in his household who do not match any of Andrew's known female relatives. I have found him listed in other family trees with a death date of 1859, but because of this census record and its possibility of being Andrew, I think that death date may be wrong. I haven't found any proof of death or any solid records beyond the 1850 census.

So how do I know Andrew Kelley is "Grandpa Celie"?

A few years ago my great-aunt Joan took an Ancestry DNA test and has allowed me access to her results in order to research the family. At 91, she is the oldest living person in this branch of my family. Using her DNA matches and Ancestry's ThruLines I have been able to connect her to multiple descendants of Andrew C Kelley through his son James Wesley Kelley (17 matches) and his daughter Rebecca Massy Kelley (3 matches). These only include matches that have their DNA connected to a tree that includes these same people in the Kelley line. There are many other shared matches whose trees are not connected to their DNA, are private trees, or who don't have trees at all. 

Joan's ThruLines for ancestor Andrew C Kelley.

For Ancestry to populate the ThruLines connections with potential relatives, I had to first add Andrew to my tree. I had stumbled on a few of Joan's matches who had him in their trees, so I added him to mine, tagged as an Unverified Hypothesis. It took a few days for the ThruLines connections to populate. I was so excited to see the 17 matches with descendants of James Wesley Kelley. I already knew that Rebecca was Thursa's sister, but James was not verified. These matches that have come up in the ThruLines feature match at the right amount of DNA and are shared matches with other known matches to this family line. Because of this, I'm confident that Andrew C. Kelley is Thursa's father and my fourth great-grandfather.

Without Joan's DNA, this would have been much harder to prove. I'm two generations further away and only match a few of her Kelley DNA matches and at very small amounts. I am excited to share this information even though I've just begun digging into the research of these new additions to the family tree.

Ancestry DNA Discoveries

I tested with Ancestry DNA over 4 years ago and it has been an interesting journey. When I bought my test, I bought one for my husband, too. Since then I have picked up 18 additional tests that I manage or collaborate on. My dad, both of my mothers-in-law (current and ex), my three children, several cousins, a great Aunt, two great Uncles and some random people that just asked for my help. I have learned so, so much and made some life-changing discoveries:

Joe Wood
My ex mother-in-law's test was a challenging one to work on. When she was about 50 years old she discovered that her dad wasn't really her dad. On her birth certificate, the father was listed as unknown. Total shocker. Fortunately, her mother was still living then and was able to give her a name and a few clues. His name was Joe Wood, he was from New York or New Jersey, and she met him in California when he was in the service. There are dozens of men named Joe Wood from the two states that served, so until she took a DNA test, we weren't getting anywhere with the research. Even then, it was a long process to track the right man down. I built so many trees for her DNA matches until I started to see some common names and figured out where some of them intersected. It eventually led to a Wood family and a man named Joe, who had passed several years earlier. I tracked down and sent letters to his children, but they never responded. (Probably thought I was crazy!) Then a new match in this family came up on her list, a 1st/2nd cousin match - closer than any of the other matches up to that point. I contacted the match and she reached out to the same children that I had written to. One of them had done a 23andme DNA test and agreed to upload the results to GEDmatch so we could compare them. The results proved a half-sibling match. This half-sister shared a photo of her father and my mother-in-law was able to see the man she'd been wondering about since uncovering the secret of her paternity more than 20 years ago. Facebook is now helping to bridge the gap between the newly discovered siblings.

Joe Wood, cropped from a photo sent by his daughter.

A Raney Sailor
In my family, there has always been a question of paternity for my Dad's brother Mike. The story in the family is that their mom, during a time when she was separated from their dad, was seeing a Sailor and he was the father. My Uncle Mike has passed, but some of his kids and grandkids have tested and I've narrowed down his biological father to one of four sons in a family with the surname Raney. It's so frustrating that I haven't been able to get any closer! Yet, anyway. I keep hoping that a descendant of one of those men will test and a new DNA match will crack the case.

Adoptees Looking for Answers
I have had three people who match me make contact to ask for my help. All were adopted. I have been able to help two of the three find their birth parent and figure out our connection. One of them was bittersweet, as his biological father, my second cousin, had passed away just a few months before we figured it out. My cousin's parents and siblings, though, have enthusiastically welcomed the young man into their family. A happy ending, for sure.

Shocking Family Secrets
DNA doesn't lie and it's helping people find answers when one or both biological parents are unknown. It's also opening some cans of worms in families where a child's parentage was a closely guarded secret. I've been involved in solving two such cases and know just how shocking it can be. I believe that knowing the truth, though, can be healing in many ways and can sometimes answer questions that had always lingered in that person's mind.

Connecting with Unknown Cousins
One of my favorite things about DNA research and the huge Ancestry database is discovering new cousins. With families spread all across the country, those 2nd and 3rd cousins we all have are not always known. I have found and connected with so many over the last 4 years. We have shared family documents, photographs (my favorite), and stories. As a family historian, it doesn't get any better than that. DNA has enriched my family story in more ways than I can count.

Henry Clay "Kay" Cobb, 1885-1968

Number 12 on my pedigree chart is my Great-Grandfather Henry Clay Cobb, known as Kay by his friends and family. He was born on the first of September, 1885, in Morristown, Tennessee to John Cobb, Jr. and Nancy (Hodges) Cobb, one of seven children born to them. Only Kay and three of his siblings, Warrie, Belle and Love, lived to adulthood. As a child, his parents called him by his middle name Clay. One of his sisters wasn't able to pronounce the  "L" and called him Kay. Soon everyone else was calling him by the name and it stuck.

Kay Cobb, his son LeRoy Cobb, and LeRoy's daughter Louise.
The photo was taken about 1949-1950.

In 1889, when Kay was about four years old, his family moved from Tennessee to Howell County, Missouri, settling on a farm four miles outside of West Plains. As a child, he enjoyed playing baseball and running around with some of the other boys from the area - but only after the chores at home were done. He was an ornery kid and seemed to find trouble at social events.

The Journal-Gazette, West Plains, MO, 21 Sep 1905
image clipped from Newspapers.com

His brother once said that Kay ended up in a fight at every dance he attended. There were a lot of dances, as that was the most popular way for everyone in the community to get together and socialize. The boys traveled to attend dances in neighboring communities as well, which is how Kay would later meet the young woman he would marry. In the meantime, when he wasn't working or at a dance, he spent his free time hustling. He loved to gamble and often won. Billiards, cards, chicken fights, and sporting events were all bet upon. By the time Kay was an adult, he knew just about everyone for miles around. He knew who was making moonshine, and he knew just the type of people who were buying it, so bootlegging became another way for him to make a little cash.

The Journal-Gazette, West Plains, MO, 7 Aug 1913
image clipped from Newspapers.com

Kay registered for the draft when WWI broke out, and he really wanted to go and fight but was denied the chance. His parents were elderly and relied on him for help on the farm and his only living brother, Warrie, was blind. While most of his friends went away to war, Kay stayed and worked the farm with his father.

Front of Kay Cobb's WWI Draft Registration card, Ancestry.com.

Back of the draft registration card, Ancestry.com.

After the war, at a dance in Sturkie, Arkansas, a young woman named Hattie Nicholas caught his eye. After that first meeting, Kay was regularly hitching up his pony & wagon for trips to Sturkie, sixteen miles from the farm. He'd stay as late as was proper and then point the pony towards home. Then he'd crawl in the bed of the wagon and go to sleep! The horse knew the way and always got him home safely. John Cobb would find Kay asleep in the wagon, out in the middle of the yard, on many mornings. He'd wake him up and tell him it was time to help with the chores. When Kay decided he wanted to marry Hattie, he built a small house on his parent's land, went down to Sturkie where the wedding took place on the 5th of February, 1921, and brought her home to the farm. In December of that year, their first child, a daughter they called Velma Love, was born.

Though he was now a family man, Kay's bootlegging continued. He was in even higher demand since Prohibition had begun.

"The 18th Amendment only forbade the “manufacture, sale and transportation of intoxicating liquors”—not their consumption. By law, any wine, beer or spirits Americans had stashed away in January 1920 were theirs to keep and enjoy in the privacy of their homes."

https://www.history.com/news/10-things-you-should-know-about-prohibition

Prohibition laws were in effect for 13 years, from 1920-1933. During this time, Kay Cobb was in trouble with the law a few times, allegedly for selling homemade wine. But, according to Kay, he never made homemade wine. He admittedly bought and sold moonshine, but told his sons that he never made any kind of liquor. He sold moonshine to the Sheriff, the Judges, local doctors, and attorneys. Because of his local connections, his little bootlegging side gig was overlooked by the local authorities. It was the Feds who wanted him and who Kay suspected of planting the wine.

The Journal-Gazette, West Plains, MO, 28 Dec 1922
image clipped from Newspapers.com

In August of 1923, Kay and Hattie had their first son, John David (J.D.) and a few weeks later, Kay's father died. Now Kay was responsible for not only his growing household but also that of his mother and his sister Belle. Money was tight, so he continued to hustle. He worked the farm, took odd jobs in town including running the duckpin bowling at the pool hall, and continued to sell moonshine the whole time. In the spring of 1925, he again had some trouble with the law. Convicted of selling wine based on witness testimony, he appealed the conviction and was acquitted of the charges. 

The Journal-Gazette, West Plains, MO, 12 Mar 1925
image clipped from Newspapers.com

The Journal-Gazette, West Plains, MO, 30 Apr 1925
image clipped from Newspapers.com

The Journal-Gazette, West Plains, MO, 4 Jun 1925
image clipped from Newspapers.com

Kay's son Bobby remembers his father telling him that while he was jailed, the Sheriff allowed him to leave at night to go home to his family as long as he was back by morning. One night, in particular, Kay was allowed to leave jail to attend a big dance and was given the key to the jail so he could let himself back in. The Sheriff made it clear that Kay had to be back in his cell by sunup. Somehow, Kay lost the key at the dance and had to walk several miles to the Sheriff's house to get another key and he just barely made it back to jail before sunrise.

Over the next several years, life moved along for Kay and his family. Son LeRoy was born in April of 1927, in August of that year Kay's mom, Nancy, died, and then son Bobby was welcomed in February of 1929. In 1930 there was some excitement when Kay's nephew Glenn, the son of his brother Warrie, came into town. Glenn, just 16 years old, was in trouble for stealing a motorcycle and was found and arrested at the Cobb farm. It wouldn't be the only time that Glenn tried to escape the law by hiding out at the Cobb farm. Bobby remembers his dad telling a story about hiding Glenn for a week in a cave at the back of their property once.

Soon the excitement would be centered around Kay and his bootlegging again. In June of 1932 officers found liquor buried on the farm and he was convicted and fined $75. Kay claimed that someone had "planted" it.

The Journal-Gazette, West Plains, MO, 16 Jun 1932
image clipped from Newspapers.com

The truth is, Kay had planted the liquor. He devised a sneaky plan for selling liquor. On the front part of the property, just off the road, was a cornfield. When someone made a purchase they would be given information to find the bottle, sort of a treasure map. For example, 7 rows of corn into the field and down 14 stalks. The purchaser would find a bottle buried between the 14th and 15th stalks of corn. Kay and Hattie kept track of where the liquor was buried on a calendar.

The year 1933 began with hope for the future. Prohibition was coming to an end and the Cobb's were expecting another child, due in the late summer. On the afternoon of May 1st, the cyclone hit.

The Journal-Gazette, West Plains, MO, 4 May 1933
image clipped from Newspapers.com

Kay's daughter Velma remembered the storm and told the story years later of hiding under the bed with her brother J.D. while he prayed. They all survived the storm and a few months later, in August, Hattie delivered a daughter they named Vera Mae. The storm caused a lot of damage and may be the reason they decided to sell the farm. That was put on hold, though, as once again, Kay was facing charges relating to liquor. This time he was charged with possession and found himself in the county jail for a bit where he was one of several prisoners put to work chopping wood for the needy.

The Journal-Gazette, West Plains, MO, 9 Nov 1933
image clipped from Newspapers.com

Prohibition ended in December of 1933 and soon after that, the Cobb's were able to sell the old farm and purchase 85-acres. The new farm was located 13 miles west of West Plains, in the community of Pottersville, and was bought for $900.00. Besides farming, Kay needed to find other ways to support the family and found work with the WPA when it was created in 1935. He worked as a timekeeper and would leave home around 4AM and work until well after dark. As a timekeeper, a job similar to being a foreman, he was responsible for clocking the men in and out of work. Occasionally he would fudge the records and allow a few men to go squirrel hunting on the clock, provided they share their bounty with him. The government man that oversaw the workers never noticed a man or two missing. On the rare days when Kay was at home with his family, at the end of the day, after chores and after supper was cleaned up, he could be found on the front porch playing his banjo and singing with the children.

The children of Kay and Hattie Cobb
back, J.D. and Velma
front, Bobby, Vera and LeRoy
photo taken about 1938

The second World War was looming and the Cobb's would soon make some big changes. Kay's draft registration says he was working for Fraser-Brace Construction of Weldon Springs. It wasn't long after this that he was working at the Kansas City Bomber Plant in Fairfax helping to produce B-25 bombers. Hattie sold the farm and brought the younger kids with her up to Kansas City. Kay used the proceeds from the farm to buy a 22-apartment rooming house which supplemented the families income. 

WWII draft registration card for Kay Cobb, image from Ancestry.com

Kay's sons J.D. and Roy joined the Navy during the war and his son-in-law Wayman signed up for the Army. With extra money from the room rents at the boarding house and wages from the bomber plant, Kay purchased $2100.00 in war bonds and the Kansas City Star wrote an article about him. In the article, he said he wanted to do it because he had 2 boys and his son-in-law in the military and he wanted this war over as quickly as possible so they could all come home safe.

Kay and Hattie Cobb

After the war, Kay found work in the Kansas City Stockyards for American Royal. He worked as a plumber and was especially busy during horse shows and rodeos when the drains in the horse stalls would often clog up. After several years living in downtown Kansas City, the Cobbs found a home in the 'burbs. Kay planted a big garden that included rows and rows of tomatoes and raised roosters and chickens. He raised the roosters for his son Bobby to take to the chicken fights in Kansas. Kay always enjoyed sports and, besides the chicken fights, he would go to see a baseball game or a wrestling match any time he had a chance. 

Kay Cobb with his son Bobby, about 1952

Kay was proud of his garden, especially the tomatoes, and often enlisted the help of his kids and grandkids to sell them and then used the extra money for family vacations. The kids got to keep a little bit of the money and learned some lessons on selling and getting along with the public. Every Sunday Kay and Hattie had all the family over for a big dinner. The four oldest kids were all nearby, so their families were regular guests. Vera and her family had moved out of state and were only able to visit once or twice a year. In the summer, the meals were held outside on the lawn, picnic style. 

Kay and Hattie Cobb, seated, with their children about 1957.
L to R, Vera, Bobby, LeRoy, J.D. and Velma.

When Kay retired he spent even more time in his garden. He added flowers and gourds and kept a row of peach trees neatly pruned. Extended family would often come over for the day and help with planting or harvesting while the little kids played in the yard. 

Kay Cobb, son LeRoy, granddaughter Louise, and great-granddaughter Shannon.
Four generation photo was taken on August 13, 1967, at Kay's home in N. Kansas City.

On the morning of September 26, 1968, Hattie woke up to find Kay still beside her. She tried but was unable to wake him. He had died in his sleep. His body was transported to West Plains where his funeral was held. He was buried in Howell Memorial Park Cemetery in Pomona where Hattie joined him in 1977.

Kay Cobb's obituary as printed in a West Plains newspaper.

The grave of Kay and Hattie Cobb,
Howell Memorial Park Cemetery, West Plains, Missouri.

Ancestry Lab introduces My Tree Tags and New and Improved DNA Matches!

OMG. Thank you, thank you, thank you Ancestry!

Two new updates to opt into, in beta format, are available today and being announced at RootsTech. One concerns labeling people in your tree, called My Tree Tags, and the other is called New and Improved DNA Matches. When you log in to your Ancestry account, you'll find these options under the "Extras" tab across the top of the page. Go down to "Ancestry Lab" and click to see the new options.

My Tree Tags allows you to tag an ancestor in several ways. Some are already populated for you to choose, but you can add custom tags, too. For example, the following tags are populated in the "Research" category: Actively Researching, Brick Wall, Complete, Hypothesis, Unverified, and Verified. These tags can help you narrow down your research, but can also alert others viewing your tree that this person is Solid or needs some work still. Other categories relate to DNA, relationships, and references.

The New and Improved DNA Matches update can't be used with Chrome extensions. I hesitated because I'm using the medbetter extension because it enabled me to see my notes from the main match page. I decided to give it a go anyway and see what new things were included. I deleted the extension and enabled the Ancestry update. SO glad I did. Now there is so much more information on the match page. 

You can still see your notes, the number of cM shared, and, in addition to the "star" option, you can assign custom colors to categories to sort your matches. 
You can attach multiple categories to a match. 
So, for example, I have a match that I know is on my maternal grandmother's side of the family (because of shared matches) but I don't know how we connect...I use the "star" feature to tag all those unknown connections and now I can add the "maternal grandmother" category, too. 
From the top of the page, you can sort your matches by category - once you get them all tagged. Homework has been assigned!

When you leave your main match page to take a closer look at a match, then go back to match page - it takes you where you left off - not back to the top of the page like it did before. This is a really big deal.

If you have a shared ancestor with a match whose tree is locked, no worries. Ancestry shows you the common ancestor if you click the "shared ancestor leaf". No more messaging people to have them look for the shared ancestor and get back to you. Another really big deal. 

Also, when you click on your #cM match, you now see a list of relationship probabilities ranked by percentages - similar to using the DNApainter tool. It's a one-stop shop now!

Seriously, folks, it's like Christmas morning. I will be busy playing with this for the next several days (weeks, months)... :)

The Basics of Family History Research, or what I've learned along the way

I've been researching my family history for a long time and I forget how some of the basics that are second nature to me can be completely foreign to someone who has never even thought about genealogy. Like a lot of genealogists, I didn't start out knowing how to do this. I winged it. And I screwed up a lot. Over the years, I have learned a lot about how NOT to do genealogy research! Because of that, I have a pretty good idea how I'd start if I were to do this all over again. Did you know that's a thing? Genealogists, like me, that didn't know what they were doing when they started, sometimes decide to REDO the whole thing! I'm not planning a Genealogy Do-over, but if I were to start again, I would follow these same suggestions.

• Start by gathering family documents and jotting down the stories you've heard from older family members. Begin creating your family tree, or pedigree chart, by filling in these details that you know. Pedigree charts, also called lineage or ancestral charts, can be found online for free. Just google "free pedigree chart to print", choose one and print out a few. Beginning with yourself, fill in that information you already have. List full names (tip: always use a female's maiden name on your chart), birthdate and birthplace, marriage date and place, and death date and place. It's good practice to consistently log your date and place info. For example, I list dates as DD Mon YYYY (13 Sep 2017), and I list places as City, County, State, Abbreviated Country. However you decide to enter the information, you'll be glad in the end that you stuck with a consistent format. When you fill in the first chart, you start another chart for each of the last generation, placing them as person #1 on the new chart. 

This is my family tree. My tangible version that isn't online.
 I keep it on the wall in my office and you can see I still have a lot of blank spaces.

• Your goal is to fill in all the blanks. But don't expect to fill in ALL the blanks. Kudos to you if you can, but it's a lofty goal. Once you have compiled all the known information, take a look at your chart and determine where the blanks are that are closest to your starting person on the chart - You. Generation one and two are probably pretty complete. Maybe three is, too. Find the first blank, maybe it's your paternal grandparent's marriage date and place. Formulate a research question, "When and where were my paternal grandparents married?" As you conduct family history research, you will tackle countless blanks that will all require research. Set yourself up for success by always starting with a plan. It can be as simple as a blank page in a spiral notebook with your research question written at the top. Your pedigree charts and research plans and notes can be handwritten on forms or can all be digital. There are software programs specifically for family history research. I use RootsMagic, but it's one of many programs available. You can also create your family tree online on Ancestry.com ($) or FamilySearch.org (free). 

Spiral notebooks are great research companions.
I buy a bunch each year when school supplies go on sale!

• Begin your research with the basics. Is there someone living who may have the information you need? A simple telephone call, email or visit may yield results. If you're lucky enough to have a relative to interview, TAKE NOTES! Or record the conversation, with their permission, of course. If you can't locate someone to ask, records may be available for the period and place you're searching. The best way I've found to find out what records are available is to use the FamilySearch Wiki. FamilySearch is a website you'll want to get to know. It was created by the Church of Latter Day Saints and is free to use. Click on the Search tab at the top and then choose Research Wiki. Follow the directions to the location you're searching and there you'll find what records are available for the time period. Look for birth, marriage and death records first and get familiar with them. Many of these records are digitized, so you can look at the actual image. ALWAYS examine the document if you can and extract all the information it holds. Try to use documents created near the time of the event. For example, proof of a birthdate is likely more accurate on a birth certificate than on a death certificate. The accuracy depends on who the informant was and if they were present at the actual event.

I snapped a photo of this picture that was hanging in my great uncle's bedroom
as he was giving me a tour of his home. These were his great-grandparents and he remembers them. They were my 3rd great-grandparents and I would have never known who they were if he hadn't told me.

• Keep detailed records of your research. This is where most people stumble. It's easy to get caught up in the excitement of finding answers to your questions and rush ahead to the next event or the next ancestor. But, and I mean this, SLOW DOWN. I tell myself all the time, slow down and document your findings. What happens if you don't? Fifteen years from now you'll return to that family to research some more and won't have a clue where you found the record that you now want to have a new peek at. Believe me, it happens. So, use the notes field in your software program or write it down in your research log to be filed away with your research on that family. Note the repository, the title of the book, the website address, the page number, the image number, the date you accessed...whatever information you think you'll need to retrace your steps someday if you should need to. And don't think you won't need to, because you might. Or someone else picking up your research in the future might. Start doing this from the beginning and you're research will be better for it.

• Verify everything. Please don't blindly copy someone else's family tree. Please don't count an index as undeniable proof. And please don't read it in a book someone wrote about a family and assume it's the truth. Absolutely use all of these things as CLUES, but look for the source information and try to find and verify the information yourself. One wrong name on your chart can skew your research and make a real big mess. Imagine, you copy the names of parents of someone into your family tree and research those two people. For years. And later you find out they were the wrong couple...it happens. And it really, really sucks. From the beginning, verify everything and build yourself a solid tree. You'll create something to be proud of and pass on to your family.

• Don't keep it all to yourself. My last piece of advise is to SHARE your research. Talk about the family history, especially with young people. Ask your elders to tell you stories about the people you're researching. Organize family reunions. Write a blog. Write a book. Create a family facebook page to share photos and stories. I've done some of these things and I can tell you, not everyone is interested. I get some rolled eyes and blank stares sometimes. Oh well... Other times, I find there are people interested in the things I've learned and the stories I've uncovered. Share your research. It brings generations closer when there is a strong connection to the past. 

A group shot at one of our family reunions.