I WENT TO PARIS

YOU WOULD THINK FRANCE, BUT, YOU WOULD BE WRONG!

It has been a while since I have posted….lack of inspiration I guess. But, I do still have several adventures I need to share. This summer and into fall, I went on several two to three day trips. And on all of them, I tried to find out some history, not my own family necessarily, just family history.

Eiffel Tower

I had the pleasure of traveling with my mother-in-law to her home of Cottage Grove Tennessee. Right next to Paris. Paris Tennessee that is. Home to Allegro Marinade, McCartney Produce, Clifty Farms ( ham ) and Paris Winery . We did manage to go to the winery, of course!

My mother-in-law has three sisters and we were able to spend time with all of them. We all five went to Jones Family cemetery to visit many relatives.

My husband’s grandparents

Patrick once visited the cemetery with his grandmother. He said to her ” I’m scared ” she replied ” I don’t know why, they’re all family ” .

Smith sisters

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

It was agreed when James Jones married his second wife, Mary Summers, that the cemetery would have both Jones and Summers families buried there. There is a distinct division in the cemetery. Jones Mill is an area nearby where there was a general store. James Jones and wife were the proprietors. Everyone knows everybody in this quaint small town.

Jones Mill store

drawing of the mill that made baskets

the owners

old heater

Just like it was

House next to store

tin ceiling

The same day of the cemetery visit, we went to an Amish store, yummy!!! Oh my gosh, they had everything!! I bought Jerky, candy and pickled beets!

Here are some additional pics of the Paris Winery, I did the tasting, although, it may look like Mary had her fill!!! Ruggeros Best was absolutely delicious!!

YOU NEVER KNOW WHO YOU WILL FIND

IN A CEMETERY……….

One of my recent trips to central Alabama, gave me some insight as to some ancestors burials.I had been in Lowndes county already, and on the way back from the beach, decided on a different route.This trip was full of discoveries and unexpected surprises.

I had known of the Sullivan line in Perry county, from the late 1700′s. This line comes from my father, his father, his mother, and so on. Alice Davidson married a Pickens, my g grandfather. Her family was both from Tennessee and Alabama. Her grandfather was Hewlett Sullivan. This family lived in Alabama and later in Texas. Hewlett’s father was William Dunklin Sullivan. Throughout the family, you see Dunklin, Duncan, Dunkin, Hewlett and Hewett in the boys names.

When I went to the cemetery in Perry county, Marion cemetery, I expected to only find Dunklin Augusta Sullivan, which would have been an uncle. Because, on FindaGrave, he was the only Sullivan listed. So, I expected little, and got lots!! I had been driving through the cemetery, and I spotted a headstone with the name Parrish. I knew that one of the sisters had married Elam Parrish. This was my sign!!! So, I thought, I may be here awhile.

I walked around and started seeing a few Sullivans, taking notes and lots of photos. First, I saw Martha, then Dunklin then the big one!! William Dunklin Sullivan, and wife Mary.

William Dunklin Sullivan, Marion cemetery, Perry county, Alabama

A bit of history on WIlliam Dunklin Sullivan…..born 1791 in Greenville district South Carolina. He later moved to Tennessee where he received a good education in law. Later to Marion county Alabama, where he became Perry county’s first state senator. He married Mary Polly Mayberry, daughter of George Washington Mayberry. William Dunklin Sullivan died in office in 1837 while attending a session of the Alabama legislature. He also served a Probate judge and representative.

William Dunklin Sullivan was my 4th great-grandfather. So, on this trip, I had the pleasure of finding TWO 4th great-grandfathers. Stay tuned, there is more to come……

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

Related articles

• Right Place, Right Time…. (fanniesyouraunt.wordpress.com)

GRAVEDIGGIN’

I decided to go out today and fulfill a few photo requests. I headed west, somewhat southwest. My plan was to go toward Trinity and Moulton. I had not yet surveyed any cemeteries in this part of Lawrence county.

I visited Grange Hall cemetery, also know as Morris cemetery in west Morgan county.

Grange Hall

As soon as a saw it, I though of a recent post by LS Moore, about people putting fencing around burial plots. This one had more than I had ever seen. And highly decorated. I researched online about it, and saw that each June, families come to decorate and cleanup the cemetery. This was a tradition I had never seen until I moved to Alabama. Most in Florida were flat, plain and unadorned. No interest, unless they were old! Every step I took today, uncovered a new group of headstones. In a cluster of bushes or trees, overgrown in the furthest areas, most could not see. You have to look beyond the new areas for the old. I would scan the distance and there I would see an obelisk. So many wrought iron fenced areas grouping the family together. And smaller stone fences surrounding single burials. I was able to find the photo request way back in a fenced area. It had been awhile since this gate had been opened. It is John Speer.

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

Eddie Thickston was just 13 years of age. He died while rock climbing in 1900.

©FANNIESYOURAUNT

CORN FIELDS AND MISSING CHURCHES

I WAS OUT ON A SEARCH YESTERDAY.TO PHOTOGRAPH SOME HEADSTONES FOR FINDAGRAVE…..THIS IS WHAT I FOUND.

I had plotted my path in a large square. It went from Athens Browns Ferry Road up to north of downtown Athens. I had a plan. I HAD a plan. You know what they say about the best laid plans….I got slightly off track. I pulled up GPS on my iPhone, and started out to the first one.  Now, I only had three on my list, I went to seven, and attempted two more that were inaccessible. When I say inaccessible, I mean, I can’t see it directly from the road, or there is no ” good” access. Before I even got to the first one, I went to three others. When I use my phone, I also go to maps and search cemeteries. Little red dots appear and I’m off!!! Hot on the trail! The first one I spotted that sounded interesting was Polly Malone cemetery. Off a fairly well-travelled road, although, between corn fields and soy beans.

Farmhouse in front of Polly Malone

It was only about a half mile off the main road, on dirt and large gravel. I went. It was pretty old and broken. The earliest burial was 1815, no Polly though, but, it appeared most of the Malone family was there. A blend of old and new. Polly and husband Henry were listed in the 1870 census for that area as being farm laborers, probably for Dr. J W Proctor, who also had a farm. Several others in the census were listed as domestic servants.

Polly Malone cemetery

I then went on the Anderson cemetery, I figured, it’s just down the road, why not? This was easy to get to, behind a farm, on a road that leads to county property. It said “private drive”. I went. The Findagrave site only listed six burials. The cemetery was full, and I took 79 photos. This will take some time. There were a lot of ” homemade headstones.

Anderson cemetery

Anderson cemetery, homemade headstones

I stopped for gas on the way to the next one. It was another Anderson cemetery with just two burials listed. It was in a small clump of trees among fields of corn. Corn that didn’t have much life in it either. We had a drought and it showed. This Anderson was listed as Madison county, but, it was still in Limestone. It was not quite as far as the county line road.

Anderson # 2

Anderson # 2

I finally got to the cemetery on my list, but, not before I found Collier, but, could not get to it! So, I went on to Cambridge Church cemetery. It was no longer a church. The marker for it was down the road about 1/4 mile. There was a request here, so I was able to fulfill it.

Cambridge church

Success!! I was on the road again! Now to ONeal, not on my list , but, on my way!! Sometimes, I also see if there are any graves listed on Findagrave that have no pictures attached. I figure, eventually someone may be looking for them. So, I did find seven here. I was disappointed I could not find the request, but, took 9 photos that were not listed. At this point, I am asking myself if I will ever get the the cemetery next on my list??? It was just up the road. I did, and was glad I did. Round Island…now, it did appear to be round in form, but, behind a church. There were 3 requests, I was able to get one, really old one!!

Round Hill cemetery

Again, there were several not photographed, so, I did my best! I am done, that was the last one on my list!! But, am I? On my map I saw another as I was looking for a way out of Limestone county. Sunny Hill, it just sounds nice, right? There were about a dozen not photographed, I was able to get all but one. I felt like this was a successful venture. And worth going to that last one.

Have you ever looked in the distance and saw a clump of trees in the middle of a field of corn, soybeans or whatever grows in your area? Check your map, it just may be an old cemetery. I have found, at least locally, there is not mush out there on the history of our cemeteries. You almost must have someone famous buried there. So many of these I have found were on farms, perhaps the owners, or maybe workers, or earlier, slaves. It would be interesting to know who they were.

©FANNIESYOURAUNT

RIGHT PLACE, RIGHT TIME….

Samuel Pickens, my 4th great-grandfather

This was the perfect opportunity for a genealogy trip. My in-laws were going to the beach……they asked me to come along. I knew that along that route were some places I had been longing to visit. This is the story.

I left on Thursday, August 9, 2012. I had planned my trip to go south, and to make stops at specific places along the way. My first stop after Montgomery , was Hayneville, Alabama. This is a very small town, but, everyone was so nice, and answered all my questions. I was looking for a marriage record for my 3rd great-grandparents that married there in February 1841. I knew it was a long shot, but, it was worth a try. No records were kept there. The young lady suggested the archives in Montgomery. She also recommended I visit the library across the street. I did, and there was a book on the History of Lowndes county. I searched through to find the main names of Pickens and Kirkpatrick. Many mentions of those names, but, not particular to those in which I was searching. However, it did mention that both names were prominent members of Little Sandy Ridge Presbyterian church, just south of there, near Fort Deposit. I did know already that Samuel Pickens was buried there, so off I went.

When I got back on Interstate 65, I saw that the town of Fort Deposit was west of the interstate and the church was east. I had time. I headed to the town of Fort Deposit. It too, was a small town, worn from the years, like Hayneville. But, it had character. Above the buildings that were abandoned, I saw spires. I followed them along a side street and saw a beautiful church. Fort Deposit United Methodist stood strong against the older structures that did not survive as well as she. I took some photos, and off I went again.

Letohatchee old grocery

The cemetery was easy to find. I just followed hwy 185 to hwy 79, headed south for a few minutes, and there it was. My goal was to take my own photo of Samuel’s headstone, and, hopefully find a few more relatives. Dead relatives that is. There were also several photo requests here as well, and wanted to help those looking for photos too. It was not too large, only about 500 burials. I started walking…..I saw large headstones with Pickens, these were not the ones. They were too new. I looked further back, and I saw some Kirkpatrick headstones. BAM!! There he was next to them. He married a Kirkpatrick, Eleanor Kirkpatrick, daughter of Valentine Kirkpatrick. There it was, I was excited! After I had seen all I could of my family, I proceeded to search for the requests. Then, I saw a car pull along the fence and turn around. It stopped at the main gate. An older gentleman got out, came into the cemetery, and introduced himself as Joseph Cates. And he knew all about this cemetery. In fact, later in the day, I would find he documented all he could about it in 1963. He spoke to descendants of those buried there, got stories and information on them. He put it all in a binder. Yep, he knew all about this cemetery. He asked me which names I was looking to find, and I told him. He helped me find some others, and told me of his family Cates.

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

He said he had something I would be interested in seeing if I had time. Not too far was an old homestead of Kirkpatrick. I told him I did have time. He went to get in the car with is wife Nancy. He could not get his car started, so I gave them a ride about 500 yards to their home.

My story gets better from here.

” I live just down the road, I’m sorry to trouble you”. It was most assuredly no trouble to take them, he had helped me a great deal already. ” I live on the old Lloyd Pickens property”. WHAT????? Lloyd was the son of Samuel, and bother to my 3rd great-grandfather, William H. Pickens. I could not believe this. He was definitely the right person to come along. He then told me the homestead was only a mile or so down the road, if I would follow them. I did, and he stopped on the side of the road. I didn’t see anything at first. The, I got out, he pointed to a sign. And said, ” You take as long as you like, then I will tell you what I know”.

Valentine Kirkpatrick property

He remembered the old home, that had been gone several years. He described it as if it was still there. The area was know as Kirklville. I told him he made my day! We went back to the cemetery, because, I had one last photo request I could not locate. He got his book and told me where to look. He told me young people are never seen in cemeteries. They don’t appreciate it. This is one person, although, not exactly young, who can truly appreciate the history and reverence that should be given to our ancestors. I thanked him, he gave me his contact info, and I hope to be in touch with him.

STORIES OF MY MOTHER….PART 7

A FEW YEARS AGO, MY MOTHER PUT DOWN ON PAPER, STORIES OF HER AND BROTHER ALBERT’S CHILDHOOD.

I am going to write these in her words. She has told me some of these stories, and some I am reading for the first time. My mother and family did not have much growing up in a small town, but, they did have loving parents, good times and stories that will endure.

It has been awhile since I posted anything else from  my mom’s stories she wrote. The last was finding her and grandmother in the 1940 census, along with the man who wold later become my mom’s father.

Grandparents

When we got older, Granddad ( Albert Ross Ewing ) would come pick us up. He had a 1931 Ford with a rumble seat. Al and I would sit back there. He would stop at Joe Guyton’s store, which was at the corner of 13th and Buffalo in Franklin,and he would buy us a candy bar. We never told Grandmother, and she never knew, or smelled it on us. On Saturday afternoon, he would take us back home. We didn’t go there a lot. Granddad always seemed to have a garden, and shared what he grew with us. Next to my grandparents home was a one room school that my mom  ( Blanch Ewing ) attended. My grandfather was very strict with the girls, but, no so much with the boys, Uncle Chuck, Wesley and Tom. They al lived in a small house with the three boys and five girls. It was on Congress Hill in the Sandycreek township. It happens to be that the very land they lived on while my grandmother was being raised, was the land all the male children divided to farm themselves. My Aunt Ruth and Uncle Tom lived in the old barn until they built a home of their own. And, he also farmed with a smaller garden, because, he had a regular job. The main road going there is Pone Lane to Congress Hill now there is a Ewing Lane….the name lives on in the land.

Albert Ross Ewing

Sandycreek township

Ethel Jones Ewing

Daddy’s father, lived in Canonsburg Pennsylvania. He was blind, and married to a lady that cooked food we didn’t like. This would be Charles W. Dean, on which I can’t find much information. He married Mary Vinton, that is about al the information that I have.  We did care a lot for our grandfather. One day our grandmother fried up Buckwheat pancakes and we did not like them. She told us if we didn’t eat them, we couldn’t go outside. When she left the room, uncle Frank came in and got the pancakes and fed them to the pigs. I bet they didn’t like them either. That was the longest week of our life Uncle Frank played the fiddle really good, which helped pass the time. Daddy had other relatives in Canonsburg too. Willard and his wife, McElheney and some others. I guess we went to visit on the bus. Daddy never drove, and we had no car. So, if we ever went on vacation, we would take the bus.

Dean family

I am currently trying to find the census records from this time frame now that the 1940 census is available. I have located a census from 1920 that have the McElheney family next door as well as the last name Cherry, I have heard this name mentioned before, Willard was a McElheney. I just found a Mary Vinton, in Warren county Pennsylvania. I have some family research that states bothe Mary and Charles W were born in Warren county. Now, to find him in a census. Mary Vinton’s father was Riley, it’s starting to add up ,right? I can’t tell you exactly who is who in the group photographs, only that they are Deans.

1920 , Cecil township, Washington county, Pa.

Still on the search for the rest so I can find siblings of Ruben, somewhere in Pennsylvania.

©FANNIESYOURAUNT

CEMETERY RESTORATION

A LOCAL BUSINESS HELPS RESTORE A STORM RAVAGED HISTORIC CEMETERY

The tornado outbreak, April 27, 2011, damaged many areas in Alabama. You can still see trees cut off midway, homes without a roof and many buildings in ruin. Amongst all that, lay a historic cemetery in the town of Trinity, here in north Alabama.

Minor cemetery, is a 177 year old family cemetery that was purchased by WIlliam Tompkins Minor in 1839. A descendant of Minor ( Wrenn )  states that she would visit the cemetery every year, and was distraught to see the damage following the tornadoes.The cemetery, which has 18 tombstones, dates to 1835 and stayed in Wrenn’s family until 1918. Nucor purchased the property from the bankrupt Trico Steel Co. in 2002.

Coutesy of Decatur Daily

Nucor spent $20,000 of its general funds money to restore the cemetery, build fencing and install landscaping around the cemetery. Minor family cemetery is listed on the Alabama Historic Cemetery Register. 

Related links

Nucor restores ruined graveyard – The Decatur Daily – Decatur, Alabama.

GRANDMA MAMIE THE SPOKESPERSON

I had found Georgia Newspapers online not too long ago. I talked about how I found Mamie McCall’s obit June 12, 1915. In the same year I found an advertisement . It was for Doan’s Pills. My gg grandmother Mamie had been in ill-health for a while. I found a few articles in the newspaper that were of interest….the advertisement for Doan’s, the note of Mamie’s illness and an advertisement by her son, for his blacksmith shop, C R McCall, Blacksmith. Mamie died on June 11th or 12th, 1915.

Times-Enterprise April 7,1915

The advertisement is at the top labeled, ” positive proof ” and  CR McCall blacksmith on the right. C R McCall ran ads from 1912 -1913 in the Times-Enterprise in Thomasville Georgia.

C R must have moved somewhere between 1910 and 1912 to be closer to family. He had two small children to raise. My grandmother, Mamie C McCall was born in 1910, in Ocilla Georgia,and we know that Maude Jeffers left the family sometime after that. C R McCall and children left Thomas county , probably to go with father and sisters to Florida, to start a new life. He later started a blacksmith shop in Plant City Florida.

I also found records of brothers to C R  visiting, back and forth. From Thomasville, to Albany and then to Americus. They were Yvonne, Carl H and Joseph E McCall.

©FANNIESYOURAUNT

DECATUR ALABAMA, THIS DAY IN HISTORY

180 YEARS AGO TODAY……

DEPOT

above photo by Allyson P.

This is not the original Decatur train depot. This was built later in the Spanish style architecture. The earlier one sat closer to the Tennessee river.

June 12, 1832: Alabama’s first railroad, the Tuscumbia Railway, opens, running the two miles from Tuscumbia Landing at the Tennessee River to Tuscumbia. The railway was the first phase of a planned railroad to Decatur, forty-three miles to the east. That railroad was needed in order for river traffic to avoid the dangerous and often unnavigable Muscle Shoals of the Tennessee River.

Historic Marker

Seeking a means to ship cotton and other goods around the treacherous Muscle Shoals of the Tennessee River, area planters and merchants met at Courtland in 1831 to consider a rail line. On January 13, 1832, the 50-mile long Tuscumbia, Courtland & Decatur railroad was chartered. Early trains were usually horse-drawn, although an English-made steam locomotive was acquired in 1834. Absorbed by the Memphis & Charleston line after 1850, the railway was largely destroyed during the Civil War. The rebuilt railroad became part of the Southern system in 1898.

DECATUR ALABAMA STRUCTURES

On Sunday, Patrick and I were driving around Decatur near the new Ingalls Harbour Pavillion. Which is really nice by the way. We saw an odd structure at the back of the lot. Now, Decatur has a lot of historical markers, but, this had nothing. Something as cool as this structure deserves a sign of some description, history etc. It took a lot of research to determine what it was. The Morgan county or Decatur websites had no information. It was a photo on Flickr that described it.

Beehive Brick Kiln

As we were driving, we discovered the Burleson home. It is a beautiful Greek Revival set on the Tennessee river west of Decatur.

Burleson house ( photo by Tim Carr )

The Rhea-McEntire House ( Burleson house )  is a historic antebellum Greek Revival mansion located along the shoreline of the Tennessee River in Decatu Alabama.

The house was constructed prior to 1836, and was used as headquarters by both Union and Confederate forces, alternately, during the Civil War.

In 1862, before being occupied by Federal forces, the plans for the Battle of Shiloh were laid out within this building. Because of this, the house was spared when the city was burned, leaving only 2 other buildings standing in the city.

The house was also used as the first temporary courthouse, during the construction of the first permanent courthouse in Somerville, in Cotaco County which is now Morgan County.

 

 

 

© FANNIESYOURAUNT