Sparkman-Kolb Wedding Announcement and other news

Look what I found the other day! I've been going through old newspapers online, looking for little tidbits about my ancestors lives. I thought this was a wonderful find I wanted to share. These are my great-grandparents. The newspapers from the area my Sparkman and Watson families come from are almost all searchable online.

 I found several mentions of these families through out the years, including my dad's birth announcement! My dad was not born in this county so we both thought that was strange. Also, apparently my gg grandfather was on the newspaper's honor roll for paying his subscription dues early - is that still a thing?

Also, I have been working on my Family Trees page. Check it out and let me know what you think. I'm concerned the writing on the trees may be too small to be of use.

My Hessian Roots

I haven't blogged in a while because I have been working on one of the more tedious sides of genetic genealogy that wouldn't make for an entertaining read. To put it briefly, I have been working on putting together one of my maternal great grandfather's family that I had previously written about in this post. Using my DNA cousin match list I have been able to another sister in addition to the one I found the photo of. Her name is Martha Edna Smith Goggans. It is slow, sometimes mind-numbing, work figuring out how I am related to this list of people I share DNA with. I have 1000+ DNA matches and I know how I connect with less than 100 of them.

Anyway, on to today's story. I have known this story for several years. It is one of my favorites because it is a wonderful glimpse into a piece history that I didn't think was that interesting or important until I realized that I would not exist if it hadn't happened the way it did.

In 1776, the Landgrave (prince) of Hesse-Kassel, Fredrick II, was the son in law of King George II. Hesse-Kassel was, at that time Europes's most militarized state. All Hessian men began their military training as youth and continued well through adulthood until they were deemed unfit or too old to serve. Similar to our National Guard, they would take a few weeks every year to drill. Frederick II hired his professional army out as mercenaries to King George for the war in America and pocketed the money, a very unpopular move.

Fredrick's agreement with King George required a minimum of 12,000 troops in America. These soldiers were a part of every major battle in the war; from Quebec to Florida. They fought at Fort Lee and Fort Washington. American leaders in a stroke of brilliance printed pamphlets and posters aimed at the soldiers. They offeredfreedom and land to anyone willing to desert and sign up with the American troops. At one point Congress was offering soldiers land, two pigs, a cow and citizenship to deserters, more than most of them would have once they returned home. The soldiers were so excited about the opportunities they had in America that thousands of them choose not to return after the war. In fact, the American Revolution was the beginning of the end for Hesse-Kassel as a mercenary state. They had an estimated 5,000 casualties and 3,000 desertions.

One of these deserters* was a man by the name of Fredrick Spees (Spies, Spiess, Speece, Speese). Born about 1757 in Schwebda Hassel, Hessie Cattle, Hessen, Germany to Adolph Christon Spies. Fredrick married Elizabeth Mozier of Lancaster County, Pennsylvania. They settled in Bracken, Kentucky and had 8 children. Fredrick's great, great granddaughter was Beulah Mae Spees. She was my great, great grandmother.

I am pretty sure that this photo is Beulah Mae and her parents, Newell Birkett Spees and Esther Jane Wirt Spees.

*There really is no way to verify that he was a deserter. It is possible just because so many did it. I have read some places that he was and in others that he was captured in Trenton and taken as a prisoner. Either way, it was his choice not to go back home. In the book, "The Genealogy of the Spees Tribe", by J.C. Spees (my 4th great grandfather) he says that Fredrick came to the U.S. before the war to fight for Washington. I find this very unlikely. It is more likely that the author did not want to write that his grandfather fought for the British.

Surname Sunday - Kolb

      Researching the Kolb family required very little effort on my part. All of the leg work has already been done! My Dad's second cousin, Avery E. Kolb, wrote a book in 1969 about the Southern branch of the Kolbs. "The Lives and Heritage of Mississippi Brothers Andrew E. and William B. Kolb" included amazing detail about this family. I wish I could share it all but it would take longer than I have in one post. Instead I want to focus on the man that started it all, Dielman Kolb. Dielman, considered the progenitor of the Kolb family in America, was born in Wolfsheim, Baden- Werttemburg, Germany in 1648 at the end of the Thirty Years' War. Growing up in a period of peace he became a man of means own large amount of land. He married Agnes* Schumacher, the fifth daughter of Peter Schumacher. Dielman and his wife came to Germantown,  Pennsylvania in 1685. He was a Mennonite most of his life but connected with the Society of Friends (Quakers) later in life. They did not stay in America, but returned to Germany. Agnes Kolb died in 1705 and Dielman in 1712. They are buried in Manheim, Palatinate, Pfalz, Germany. Dielman and his wife had at least seven children.  Peter (1671-1727) was a Mennonite Minister and is buried in Manheim, Germany.  Ann (1676-1727) married Balthaser Kolb. She is buried at Wolfsheim. Jacob, (1679-1730) Johannes, (19 May 1683- 1670) and Martin came to America in 1707. They settled in Germantown, Pennsylvania and later moved to Skippack. Henry (1679-1730) also came to America in 1707.

     Of all of the siblings, Johannes Schumacher Kolb was apparently the only one not active in the Mennonite Church. He sold his land in Pennsylvania sometime after 1734; and he and his wife, Sarah, moved their family south by ship to Charleston or down the Shenandoah Valley with Scotch-Irish, Welsh, and German pioneers to South Carolina. He received a grant of 650 acres in the Causeway neck of the Pee Dee River in 1737, and the family made their home there between 1737 and 1742. The homestead was located on what is now Byrd's Island, on a plot north of the loop but south of Sugar Loaf. The homestead has become an important archaeological site, The Johannes Kolb Archaeological Site** in recent years. 

    John and wife, Sarah, had nine children: Tilman (the anglicized version of Dielman), Mary, Mahitabel, Martin, Hannah, Henry, Peter, Sarah, and Jacob. Peter's family, including his famous son, Colonel Abel Kolb, are well documented in the 1856 "History of the Old Cheraws" by Reverend Alexander Gregg and in lineage files of the DAR. 

     Jacob married in South Carolina and had at least four children: Harmon, James, Joseph and Jonathon Kolb. Jacob was killed in the Cherokee Indian Rebellion in 1761 in South Carolina

      James Kolb was born in York, SC.(DAR Ancestor # A067291) A planter, he left a Will in 1802 creating a clear record of his family. His son, Silas, would lead his children and grandchildren, along with many other families to the Mississippi counties of Monroe, Lowndes and Oktibbeha. 

*Some sources have her name listed as Agnes but most sources have no name listed. 

**Square Holes, Digging the Kolb Site documentary trailer

Sources:

• JOHNSON, MRS. ARTA F., editor. "Immigrant Ancestors." In The Palatine Immigrant. Vol. 9:1 
• Daniel Kolb Cassel, A Genealogical History of the Kolb, Kulp, or Culp Family and Its Branches in America, Norritstown, Montgomery, Pennsylvania, United States: Morgan R. Wills, 1895; Page: 16.
• Ancestry.com. Global, Find A Grave Index for Burials at Sea and other Select Burial Locations, 1300s-Current [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2012.
• Filby, P. William, ed. Passenger and Immigration Lists Index, 1500s-1900s. Farmington Hills, MI, USA: Gale Research, 2012.
• Sons of the American Revolution Membership Applications, 1889-1970. Louisville, Kentucky: National Society of the Sons of the American Revolution. Microfilm, 508 rolls.
• Kolb, Avery E., The Lives and Heritage of Mississippi Brothers Andrew E. and William B. Kolb, Springfield, Virginia, 1969
• http://mhep.org/immigrant-heritage-kolb-kulp/
• The Kolb-Kulp-Culp Family Association
• History of the Mennonites: p. 344 Biography of the Kolbs in America.
• Daughters of the American Revolution Ancestor Search

The Photo Was the Key

It has been so long since I've posted but I have been busy! I mentioned previously that I was able to get copies of close to 250 old family photos. I have been slowly going through and trying to identify

Beulah Mae Spees Smith

as many of them as possible. Some of them are complete mysteries. It seems as though my gg grandmother, Mae Spees, was very interested in correspondence. She was born in Missouri in 1882 and moved with her family to Lee County between 1895 and 1900. She kept in contact with all of her family and friends in Missouri and her husbands family and they sent many photos back and forth.

 Some of the photos have clues on the back but many of them do not. The photo I am writing about today did have a name on the back and it led me down a rabbit hole that led to some wonderful discoveries!

First let me give you some background information. Mae's first husband, my gg grandfather, was born about 1882 in Pontotoc, MS. This is unfortunate because there is no 1890 census. And I have not been able to find him on the 1900 census so the first record we have of him is on the 1910 census.

                      W F Smith      28 - Head of household

                                     Frank Smith    69 - father of head of household
May Smith      28 - wife

      Oda Zell Smith  1 - daughter

In the 1920 census, Mae is married to her second husband, Zach. I have not been able to find any information on his death or tombstone. The 1910 census does give me something, his father's name: Frank Smith. Of course it's only the most common surname in America! How hard can it be? This is all information I found out 10 years ago when I first began researching. After looking for a long time, I found a Smith family in Pontotoc that was likely Frank's family. He was listed as Francis Smith, son of Joshua and Jane Smith on the 1850 and 1860 census. My DNA test confirmed this connection many times over. But who was W.F.'s mother, Frank's wife? What happened to Frank between the 1860 census and the 1910 census?  Did W.F. have any siblings? What does W.F. stand for? In my mind I've always called him William Franklin but I have no reason to think this. SO MANY QUESTIONS!

Fast forward to me combing through old photographs. I pulled this photo up and noticed how young the children were compared to the adults. Also, that I didn't recognize any of the people. On the back I saw that there were indeed grandparents and grandchildren (so sweet) and that I definitely did not recognize the names. Luckily, Arch is not a terribly common name so a quick search on Ancestry for Arch and Emma Duncan and there was a match in the 1900 census!

James Archie and Emma Smith 

Now I just have to find the connection! In the Ancestry search I looked for trees that had this couple. I was so pleased to see that there were several - and, bonus, Emma's maiden name was SMITH! I seriously could not believe it! I reminded myself that Smith is a very common name and the two might not be related. I had to find proof. Another look at the trees that she was in told me that her descendants were unsure of her parentage. She was born in Mississippi in 1871 and died in Alabama in 1955. Then I found a record in the Alabama, Deaths and Burials Index, 1881-1974 that had a clue: her father's name was Frank! Coincidence? Maybe but it was looking unlikely. My next step was to look through my DNA matches to see if I was matched to any of her descendants. I found one confirmed. I do not consider one match as conclusive so I had to consider one more important piece of evidence....the fact that this photo has been passed down. In other words, why else would my great-great grandparents have this photo? All together, I am convinced that Emma Jane Smith is W.F.'s older sister.

Francis M Smith Pin

This new piece of information opened up a flood of discoveries. I found Frank's marriage record. He married M.A. Robertson 20 Jun 1866. I found his tombstone and confirmed it with the photo of his pin from the Civil War that I got from a cousin. I found his Civil War file. I found Francis and Martha Smith in the 1870 census in Pontotoc. They had a daughter named Frances. Another sister! The census also told me that Martha  was born about 1846 in South Carolina. I have not been able to find her family yet but I am still working on it. I honestly never thought I would find this much information about Frank. And all of it was because of one forgotten photograph.

The First Looneys in America

The best anyone can tell, Robert Looney was born about 1694 in Ballagilley on the Isle of Man. He came to America from the Isle of Man, Great Britain, with his wife, Elizabeth (Llewellyn) and at least two sons, settling first in Philadelphia, and later in colonial Maryland. Soon after they moved west to the new frontier and settled in Augusta County, Virginia on the James River. There on Looney Creek, Robert and his wife, raised their family and established the first ferry crossing on the James River. They built a grist mill, grew crops and raised livestock. Robert and Elizabeth had 12 children.

In 1754-55 Indian attacks were increasing and eventually developed into what we call the French and Indian War. Robert Looney built a wall around his home, creating Looney's Fort. The fort was at the junction of Looney Creek and the James River.  Fort Looney was visited in 1756 by none other than  Colonel George Washington.

Robert's sixth son, Absalom, was born about 1729. He is known for discovering a beautiful valley near the Bluestone River while on a hunting trip. It is called Abb's Valley.  

     "Abb's Valley. The valley in Tazewell County that has been written of and talked about most is Abb's Valley. . . . [It] received its name from Absalom LOONEY who discovered it while on a hunting and [ginseng]- digging expedition west of New River." 

 From George W. L. Bickley, History of the Settlement and Indian Wars of Tazewell County, Virginia, (Cincinnati: Morgan & County, 1852; Parsons, WV: McClain Printing, 1974), p.514

Absalom married Margaret Eleanor Moore in about 1750 and they, along with two other families, settled in Abb's Valley. After the Indian attacks began, one of the settlers, Robert Poage, left the valley. Absalom's father, Robert, sent for him and his family and they went to help build the fort. The third family, the Moore's (probably Margaret's relatives) were captured by the Indians and most of them were eventually killed. (For more information on this, you can read a book based on first hand accounts called The Captives of  Abb's Valley: A Legend of Frontier Life written by Mary Moore's Son, James.)

Absalom served in the Revolutionary War and his service has been proven by the Daughters of the American Revolution (Ancestor #A071512). 

Absalom and his wife had eleven children including my 5th great grandfather, Michael. 

Michael Looney Home.

 In 1783, Absalom Looney went to survey lands in the Cumberland District, "Wilderness", of Tennessee which were to be set aside for soldiers of the Continental Line.  The first court in Sullivan County, Tennessee was established in the home of his son, Moses Looney in 1780. Absalom Looney was appointed Justice of the Peace for Hawkins County, Tennessee in 1790. 

Absalom Looney's wife must have died before September 28, 1791 when Absalom Looney of Botetourt County marked his will with an "A", leaving 5 shillings to each of 4 sons and 7 daughters, and all else to his son Benjamin without any mention of his own wife. John Smyth and Stephen Holstine were named executors and he witnesses were Dan'l Givens, John Summerfield, Rich's Summerfield, and Will Givens. Absalom died in 1796. 

Absalom's "A"

Sources:

• https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Looney-152
• https://www.geni.com/people/Absalom-Looney-Sr/6000000010451949545
• http://www.robertlooneybook.com
• Daughter's of the American Revolution
• http://www.mindspring.com/~mozark/LnyGen.html

In Memory- Joseph Henry Plunkett

Since today it Memorial Day I thought it was only fitting to feature a family member who fought and died for freedom. 
Sgt. Joseph "Henry" Plunkett was born June 4, 1919 in Lee County, MS. He was the sixth child of Jim and Beulah (Scruggs) Plunkett. 

He joined the Army on November 5, 1942 and left for Camp Shelby just south of Hattiesburg, MS where he was assigned to the 90th Infantry Division. His brother, Curtis, and brother-in-law, Odell, also fought in WWII. 

The 90th Infantry Division landed in England, 5 April 1944, and trained from 10 April to 4 June.

Henry's division saw action on D-Day, 6 June, on Utah Beach, Normandy, the remainder entering combat 10 June, cutting across the Merderet River to take Pont l'Abbe in heavy fighting. After fighting along the river Douve, the division attacked to clear the Foret de Mont-Castre (Hill 122), clearing it by 11 July, in spite of fierce resistance. In this action the Division suffered 5000 killed, wounded, or captured, one of the highest casualty rates suffered in WW II. Henry was one of these casualties, dying on July 13, 1944. 

His remains were shipped back home and he was buried at Boguefala Cemetery in Mooreville, MS. 

Utah Beach Landing 

Henry's Funeral

Sources:

Combat Chronicles: "90th Infantry Division". – The Army Almanac: A Book of Facts Concerning the Army of the United States. U.S. Government Printing Office. – 1950. – pp. 510–592. Hosted at the United States Army Center of Military History.

Fold3, Page 1 - U.S., Headstone Applications for Military Veterans, 1925-1963, 

U.S., World War II Army Enlistment Records, 1938-1946, Ancestry.com, Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2005, Provo, UT, USA

Famous Relative - Winston Churchill

Ancestry has an app called We're Related that I use. It uses your Ancestry family tree and finds famous people that you are related to. It is purely for fun and not always accurate. It often makes the assumption that if many people have an individual being the parent of your ancestor then it must be true. I do get a good kick out of it even if most of the people I am related to are pop stars that I have no interest in share genes with. A few interesting ones have popped up like Abraham Lincoln, Benjamin Franklin, and Walt Disney. I am still working on proving these, however. I will keep you updated. Today I had one pop up that was easy to verify- Sir Winston Churchill. He is my 9th cousin 1x removed. This means my dad and Mr. Churchill are 9th cousins.

                                          M.A. Watson             (9th cousins)              Winston Churchill

                                          W.T. Watson              (8th cousins)               Jeanette Jerome

                                        Irene Looney                (7th cousins)              Leonard Walter Jerome

                               Mary Susan Francis              (6th cousins)              Isaac Jerome

                         William Ragland Francis            (5th cousins)                Aaron Jerome

                                        Sally Ragland              (4th cousins)               Samuel Jerome

                        John Ragland (1761-1842)          (3rd cousins)               Abigail Rich

                        John Ragland (1710-1791)          (2nd cousins)              Abigail Green     

                                    Hannah Walker                (1st cousins)                 Mary Warren

                                Elizabeth Warren                    (siblings)                   Abraham Warren
                                                         
                                                             John Warren (1585-1667)

• By BiblioArchives / LibraryArchives - https://www.flickr.com/photos/28853433@N02/19086236948/, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=41991931

Tombstone Tuesday - Joshua Smith

Today's Tombstone Tuesday features Joshua Smith. This one is a big deal to me. I have long suspected that my Smith line was descended from Joshua but I had no way to prove it until I had my DNA tested. I still hope to learn more about this family but for now I'll share what I know.

Joshua Smith was born July 23, 1812 in Newberry, South Carolina. This is fascinating because I have several unrelated ancestors who all came from Newberry. I wonder if they at one time new each other. What would they have said if they were told that their descendants would one day all be connected? Joshua's parents were probably James Smith and Sarah Teague. This conclusion comes from them having come from the same area at the same time as Joshua. 

Joshua and his wife, Nettie Jane Beeks were among the first settlers of Pontotoc County, MS. They had nine children. 

1850 U.S. Census

Their fifth child, Francis, is my second great-grandfather.  Joshua died on July 5, 1880. He is buried in Cherry Creek Cemetery.

James Robert Williams

       James Robert Williams was born on March 20, 1874 in Alabama, probably in or near Hamilton. His father, Sanders Buckner Williams was 19 years old and his mother, Agnes Lewis, was 17. He had one older sister, Cynthia Jane, one younger brother, John Harvey, and four younger sisters, Mary, Martha, Agnes Bethany, and Lacey. After his mother's death his father married Sarah Frances Taylor and had five more children: Sanders Buckner, Jr, Sigmund, Russell Hubert, Lennie and Nellie. 

1954 - Brothers John and Jim

James, also known as Jim, married Mollie Savannah Conway on February 3, 1895. In 1900 they owned a farm in Marion County, AL north of Hamilton, in a community called Reids. They had three children: Kirby, Effie, and Kimbuck. By 1910 they were renting a farm in Bexar, AL, right on the state line and had 4 more children: Walter, Della, Martha Ellen and James Robert. In 1920 they were renting a farm in Pontotoc and had added 3 more: Jeff, Etta, and Sanders Buckner. Esther was born the following year. Jim and Mollie stayed in Pontotoc County in the Pontocola and Troy areas. Jim died in 1967. He had 59 great-grandchildren, one was my mother. He was 92 years old.

Jeff, Dude, Mahulty, Jefferson, Ruth, Molly, Sam, Mae and Lou

 

James Robert and Sanders Buckner Williams

Jim Williams and Jimmy Long

Signature

 


Please share any stories or memories you have of Jim in the comments!



Sources:

•  Enumeration District Maps for the Twelfth through the Sixteenth Censuses of the United States, 1900-1940." Images. FamilySearch. http://FamilySearch.org : 14 June 2016. Citing NARA microfilm publication A3378. National Archives and Records Administration, Washington D.C.
• 1880 United States Federal Census, Beat 2, Marion, Alabama; Roll: 23; Page: 45C
• 1900 United States Federal Census,  Reids, Marion, Alabama; Page: 14; Enumeration District: 0061
• 1910 United States Federal Census, Bexar, Marion, Alabama; Roll: T624_25; Page: 8B; Enumeration District: 0078; FHL microfilm: 1374038
• 1920 United States Federal Census,  Hoyles, Pontotoc, Mississippi; Roll: T625_891; Page: 13B; Enumeration District: 105
• https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/32699541
• 
  

Family Group Friday - The Looney Family

Seated Left to Right: Sally Francis, Nola Owene, Hugh James, James Murphy, Sr, Susan Irene, Mary Susan Francis Looney,

Standing Left to Right: Robert Lee, Mazie Edens Looney, John William, Molly Williams  Looney, Nathanial Bacon, Mattie Wilkinson Looney, James Murphy, Jr, Jennie Miller Looney, Frank Pearson, Edna Brice Looney

Bravest Soldier of All

I had forgotten about this amazing story until my mother reminded me of it this weekend. I thought about paraphrasing it but I love the language the J.C. Spees uses.

This is an excerpt from the book  "The Geneology of the Spees Tribe" by J.C. Spees

   "Miss Lucy Wright had seven brothers in the Revolutionary War, but she was the bravest soldier of all. One day during the War of Independence in the United States of America the Indians surrounded Red Stone Fort, now Brownsville, in Washington county, Pennsylvania, where the old men, mothers and children of the soldiers in Washington's army were stationed in stockades for protection from the Indians, there was a call for two volunteers to try and reach Washington's army, which was twenty-two miles away, to notify them of the critical condition of the Fort. Out stepped little [sic] curley headed Lucy Wright, about 18 years of age, followed by her young lady chum. 

     Time was precious as the Indians could be seen gathering wood for their camp fires for the night. The sun was getting ready to set in the western sky and pin her [sic] murkey curtains of night with the evening stars. Two horses were made ready for the girls to try and run the gauntlet of the Indian lines. On the backs of these horses sprang Lucy Wright and her girl friend, whose name father had forgotten as he was but a small boy of 8 or 10 years when his old Grandmother Young told him of the hardships of her childhood days during the war. The gate of the Fort swung open and out dashed these girls, coming onto the Indians so sudden that they stood spell-bound with the wood in their arms hardly realizing what was going on until horses and riders were out of reach. On dashed the ladies, following the trail of glazed trees as their guide by moon light until they reached the outer edge of Washington's picket line, where the horse that Lucy Wright rode dashed sideways against a snag of a tree and tore off the calf of one of her limbs. The great grandmother of J.C. Spees, her grandson, the scar and say, "Brice, if you do as much for your country as your grandmother did you will be a brave boy.  

     This ride of twenty-two miles was made in less than three hours through the forests of Washington county, Pennsylvania. The best horses were selected and soldiers went to help save Red Stone Fort and its occupants, and they reached the Indian camp before all the powder and balls had been consumed in the Fort. Great was the joy when those old fathers, mothers and children heard the sound of guns around the Indian camp, for they then knew the girls had reached the camp of Washington's army."

I am still learning more about Lucy Wright and who she was. In other parts of the book Spees refers to the Wrights as "curly headed people" and "very energetic". Lucy certainly sounds like someone I'd like to meet.
In genealogy things aren't always certain. There is a Lucy Wright born about the same year as my Lucy who married and died in Madison County, AL. However, I am almost certain they are not the same person. She would have had to be married to remarried and moved to Alabama yet the Spees book mentions calls her "old Grandmother Young" at one point. There another Lucy Wright recorded as being born that same year but her parents died when she was young and her trail goes cold. I am going to keep digging and hopefully find my Lucy.

Lucy Wright Young is my 6th great-grandmother. Lucy - Mary Young Spees - Joseph Carter Spees - Newell Birkett Spees - Beulay Mae Spees - Oda Zelle Smith Spearman.

Tombstone Tuesday - Mary Ann Parilee Rogers Sparkman

When Mary Ann Parilee Rogers was born on October 18, 1851, in Mississippi, her father, Reuben, was 25, and her mother, Elizabeth, was 17. She had 12 children with Thomas Jefferson Sparkman between 1873 and 1894. She died having lived for more than 100 years. She died on October 21, 1952, at the age of 101, and was buried in the New Greensboro Cemetery in Grady, Webster County, Mississippi.

Mary Ann Parilee Rogers is my 2nd great grandmother. 

Visits, Photos and Stories

I spent this past weekend at my parents' home in Tupelo. While I was there I got to visit with both of my mom's aunts on the Williams-Plunkett line, a cousin on the Spearman-Smith line and one of my dad's aunts. It was a busy weekend but I was able to get over 200 old family photos (plus some that no one knows who is in them) and many wonderful old family stories. I can't wait to share them! For now though I'll just share this one photo and the note that was on the back. I have no idea who the children are, maybe one day I will find out, but for until then it is a fun picture.

 There are two children in a goat-cart. (Get it?) I love how "royal" the goat looks. The house number is 1258, that could be a clue. And there is a woman inside the door to the house.

My DNA Story

For Christmas my father-in-law got me an Ancestry DNA Kit. I was so surprised and excited. I had wanted one, and probably mentioned it in his presence one day when a commercial was on. I fill up the tube with saliva and put the package in the mail. After a few days I got an email that my kit had been received. About two weeks after that they told me that it was being processed. And a couple weeks after that I had my results!

Now, I started doing family history research over ten years ago so most of this wasn't a surprise. I knew about my English, Irish, Scottish and German ancestors. I even knew about my Viking (Scandinavian) roots. I have never found any Spanish (Iberian Peninsula) or Italian or Greek (Europe South) ancestors. And I certainly had no idea what Melanesia was! I was very surprised that there was no Native American in my genes. There are so many family stories! 

I loved that they show the migrations. They all migrated straight to the South! Backing up my previous post, I am so very Southern. On my DNA homepage there is a lot of information on these people groups and the migrations. It is fascinating to read. Although it did confirm much of what I already knew, it also created more question. So I did my favorite thing... research!

First thing - what is Melanesian? Ancestry showed this:

 

While that was informative, it wasn't very helpful. That I knew of, none of my ancestors traveled to New Guinea - much less stay long enough to bring back some of their DNA!

I read many articles and blogs on the subject of DNA testing for genealogical purposes and most of them said that Science just isn't advanced enough to trace where you are coming from. You can take multiple tests from multiple companies and they will almost always come back different. Different companies have different algorithms but in the end it is always at best an educated guess. That sounded reasonable to me. The ones I was uncertain of were labeled as "Low Confidence Regions" so I just decided they were errors and ignored them. 

Still, my DNA results have been invaluable to my research. They have filled in so many gaps that I never would have been able to fill. My maternal grandfather's grandfather was a Smith. Even if that hadn't been his last name I would have had trouble with him. I could only find him on one census and he went by W.F. Smith. There was no wife listed. It wasn't much to go on. I have been trying to track down his family for years. I found a family that was a possibility but no way to prove it. DNA to the rescue! While the region information was interesting, the best part is that I am now connected to thousands of DNA cousins. So all I had to do was make a list of all of the members of the family that I suspected was his and start going through my cousins and looking at their trees to see if any were descended from that family. Ancestry makes this very simple by showing you the people you have in common on your trees. And guess what! I found my Smith cousins! The gap was filled and I can now trace my Smith line back to Colonial America and who knows how much further. This is just the first of dozens of times I have been able to use my DNA cousins to help fill in blanks. Some of them I have started communicating and sharing with. 

My DNA cousin connections have definitely been the most beneficial part of the service but I still wanted to see if I could get a little more from my Ethnicity Estimate. I found that I could download my raw DNA data onto my computer and upload it to other testing sites for a small fee. So I did some reading and chose to try Family Tree DNA. I uploaded my data and in about 24 hours I had my results. And to my honest surprise, they matched my Ancestry results! 

European  - 96%

Jewish Diaspora - 2%

Oceania - <1 p="">

<1 br="">Southeast Europe -<1 1="">

<1 br=""><1 br="">Siberia-<1 1="" p="">

These are labeled differently but other than the Siberia they matched. Jewish Diaspora refers to Sephardic Jews who lived on the Iberian Peninsula. (Remember the Spanish Inquisition? Those Jews.) I am interested to see if I can find who (and how far back) this DNA would have come from! Oceania is their word for the Australian, New Guinea area and Southeast Europe is back to Italy and Greece that was mentioned in the Ancestry results!

I went back to researching and learned a few more things about how my results may have come about. Many Native American groups have refused to give DNA samples so companies have no reference point to compare to. I also started looking at how people first came to America. They traveled from Melanesia and Siberia! I think this is my Native American DNA from when they were native Pacific Islanders and native Siberians! 

DNA science will continue to expand and as they do, my result data will change. The companies will update it as their algorithms change and as they learn more about it. I am excited to see how this will affect the future of genealogy!

So Very Southern

One of the aspects of my family tree that I find so fascinating is how quickly my ancestors moved to the South. And more, how early they were in America! At this point have not found any of my ancestors that arrived after the Revolutionary War, though I admit I still have a long way to go in my research.

These are my Southern roots:

1. 5th GG, Levin Watson - born 1793 in NC, died 1866 in Tuscaloosa, AL
                     -Sarah Billingsley - born 1794, died in Tuscaloosa, AL

2. 5th GG, John Thomas Oswalt - born 1793 in SC, died 1863 in Webster County, MS
                     - Nancy Weaver - born 1795 in SC, died 1870 in Webster County, MS

3. 4th GG, Charles Morgan - born 1801 in SC, died in Choctaw County, MS
                     - Lucretia  - born 1815 in SC, died in MS

4. 4th GG, Frederick Brown - born 1802 in SC, died in MS
                     - Judy - born in GA, died in MS

5. 5th GG, George Thomas Sparkman - born 1764 in NC, died in White County, TN
                     - Martha Bryant - born 1772 in NC, died in White County, TN

6. 3rd GG, Reuben A Rogers was born in Alabama in 1826 (haven't been able to get further...yet)


7. 4th GG, Silas Sage Kolb - born 1778 in SC, died 1850 in Lowndes County, MS
                       - Mary Minerva Simpson - born 1777 in SC, died 1840 in Lowndes County, MS

8. 3rd GG, Rhonda Egger - born 1803 in SC, died 1835 in Caledonia, MS
                      - James Kolb

9. 4th GG, Charles Murrah - born 1775 in NC, died in GA (still have a long way to go on this line)


10. 3rd GG, Sarah Hare - born 1816 in SC, died 1880 in Walthall, MS


11. 4th GG, Thomas  and Jerusha Plunkett were born abt 1825 in Alabama


12. 5th GG,  George Conway - born 1779 in Fauquier, VA, died 1855 in Walker, AL
                       -Nancy Owen - born 1771 in Lee, VA, died in Florence, AL

13. 5th GG, Buckner Williams - born 1795 in NC, died 1853 in Itawamba County, MS
                        - Martha Mosley Bourland - born 1795 in TN, died 1877 in Itawamba County, MS

14. 6th GG, Drury Scruggs - born 1750 in VA, died 1833 in Sumner, TN


15. 4th GG, Joshua Ward - born 1819 in NC, died in Mooreville, MS
                         - Sarah Jane Whitesides - born 1836 in Alabama

16. 5th GG, Joshua Spearman - born 1780 in NC, died 1859 in TN
                           - Alcey Eubanks

17. 4th GG, Elizabeth Lockridge - born 1817 in GA, died in Itawamba County, MS
                           - William Harvard Spearman

18. 6th GG, John James Sanderson - born 1764 in NC, died 1810 in Madison, AL
                           - Elizabeth Granade - born 1767 NC, died 1828 in Madison, AL

19. 5th GG, Sarah Bell - born 1802 in SC, died 1861 in Marion County, AL
                             - John G. Sanderosn - born 1800 in NC, died 1830 in Limestone County, AL

20. 4th GG, James Smith - born 1786 in SC, died 1866 in Pontotoc County, MS
                              - Sarah Teague - born 1790 in SC, died 1857 in Pontotoc County, MS

21. 3rd GG - Nettie Jane Beeks - born 1812 in SC, died 1882 in Pontotoc County, MS


22. 3rd GG - Newell Birkett Spees - born 1854 in KY, died 1912 in Pontotoc County, MS (This is my only line that lived in the "North" for a longer period of time. They all lived in Ohio and Missouri before moving to MS)
                   

A Revolutionary War Hero, Maybe Not

The Billingsley connection is a fairly recent find. Until last month, I had never seen the name within my family tree. Even then, there just wasn't much evidence to back it up. I knew that my 5th great-grandfather, Levin Watson, was married to a Sarah but I had no way to prove that she was Sarah Jane Billingsley. At least, not without taking a trip to North Carolina and spending days going through documents.  So I turned to my DNA. This has been an invaluable tool to fill in where documentation is lacking. I found some Billingsley cousins! I am excited to see where this new line will end up. The following story is about Sarah Billingsley Watson's grandfather, James B. Billingsley
 

See Note About Image Below

James Billingsley was born in St. Mary's County, Maryland in 1729. He married Elizabeth Crabtree before he turned 20. In 1758 they moved to Baltimore County and lived there almost ten years before moving to Guilford County, North Carolina. Billingsley was very supportive of the pending revolution. In 1771 he appears as a signer on a petition to grant clemency for John Pugh and Thomas
Welborn who were charged with associating with Insurrectionists. When the Revolution began he sent his sons into service and became quite active in aiding the American cause. This upset his Tory neighbors and they began harrassing him until one day in April 1776 they invaded his home and demanded money. When he told them he had none to give they took him to a nearby tree and hung him.

James's wife, Elizabeth, made a note of his death in the family bible. She lived to know many of her great-grandchildren and she would often tell the tale of her husband's tragic death. One of these great-grandchildren wrote it out into a complete record for the family.

Sources:

• (Ref: For King and country, by the Orange County Genealogical Society, in Orange, California, Vol. I, page 28 (1975)
•  Baltimore County Families 1659-1759,  Robert W. Barnes,  Baltimore, Md, 1989, pg 43
• Early Colonial Settlers of Southern Maryland and Virginia's Northern Neck Counties
• FindaGrave.com 

The image is not of James Billingsley. I believe it is supposed to be John Proctor's execution during the Salem Witch Trials. I just thought it was a fitting image for this story. 

Shanghied in Somerset

    Evan Ragland is one of my favorite ancestors. Mostly because his story seems like something out of a Robert Louis Stevenson story. Evan Ragland was born March 31, 1656 in St. Decuman's Parish, Somerset, England to Thomas Ragland, Jr and Jane Morgan Raglan. The Ragland family, having descended from nobility, was considered wealthy and owned a lot of land

The church Evan was baptized in

An interesting account of his story was told to another researcher, Dawn Griffis on a trip to Wales in the late 1980s. She met with a direct descendant of the Ragland family, Anna Tribe. She stated that relatives of Evan Ragland's family had inherited some land in the 1500's in Somerset. When he was 13 years old, he and his cousin, John Davis were playing on the docks at Watchet while Evan's father, Thomas, conducted business in town. When Thomas came to pick them up they were gone. They had be kidnapped and taken onto a ship bound for America. This was a common occurrence during those days.  The boys were transported to America under what must have been terrible conditions and sold into indentured servitude. Evan, being well educated for someone his age, was taken into the home of the Stephen Pettus, the planter who purchased him, and worked as the man's secretary. Stephen Pettus was a wealthy planter who lived along the Chickahominy River in New Kent County, Virgina. Evan was able to purchase his freedom early and married Stephen's daughter, Susanna Pettus, his sole heir.

St. Peter's Church, New Kent, Virginia

    Evan Ragland appears several times on the Vestry Rolls of St. Peter's Parish Church. He would have been there when this building was built. This is also the church where George Washington married Martha Custis January 6, 1759.

    The Ragland family can trace their roots to Adam ap Herbert born in 1230 in Hertfordshire.

   The name Ragland was given to the family when  Robert ap Jevan (aka Raglan) moved into the Raglan castle with his Uncle William after the death of his father.

Raglan Castle

Evan Ragland is my 8th great-grandfather. Evan Ragland, Sr, - Evan Ragland, Jr - John Ragland, Sr - John Ragland, Jr - Sarah (Sallie) Ragland - William Ragland Francis - Mary Susan Fracis - Susan Irene Looney





SOURCES:

Ragland, Charles James Jr. The Raglands: The History of a British-American Family, vol. II. (Winston-Salem, N.C.: privately printed, 1987). Found at FamilySearch.org

St. Decumans Parish Register. Somerset, England, Church of England Baptisms, Marriages, and Burials, 1531-1812 (database on-line, ancestry.com). Image of original at ancestry.com

Indentured Servants Database

Who Was Reuben Ragland?

Raglan Castle

Wikitree