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 

Tombstone Tuesday - Victoria Barrett

Victoria Barrett was born on December 25, 1865, in Mississippi, the daughter of Martha Jane Brown and Charles Barrett. She married John James Sanderson on October 27, 1881, in Itawamba, Mississippi. They had six children during their marriage. She died on October 26, 1923, in Itawamba, Mississippi, at the age of 57, and was buried in the Walton Cemetery in  Fulton, Mississippi.


Victoria Barrett Sanderson is my 3rd great-grandmother.
Victoria Barrett - Maude Jane Sanderson - William Clovis Spearman, Sr

Rockie Brown

On Sundays, I plan to write about a specific ancestor. Today I want to introduce you to my Great-Great Grandmother Rockie Lenora Brown. I love the name Rockie, I wish I knew how her parents came up with it! I have know her name and her most of her vitals for a few years now but it wasn't until I recently got an email from one of my Uncle Tommy that I took the time to look into her life. In the email he mentioned that they did not know much about her and my first thought was, "challenge accepted"!

Charles Bryant and Rockie

And a challenge it was! I could not find any records of her from before she married Charles Bryant Watson January 5, 1896. And then, a break through. In the 1880 census I found a record for a Rockey Brown born about 1873 in Texas! *Why she was in Texas, I had no idea. When I took a closer look at the census record I saw that her parents were listed as "Jons C Brown" and "J.A. Brown". I was pretty sure that Rockie's mother was Julianne/Julie Ann/Julyan Oswalt so J.A. Brown could be her. Then I noticed that "Rockey's" parents were born in Mississippi! That was enough for me to follow their trail. 

1880 Census Record

Julia Ann Oswalt Brown

   It turns out that Rockies parents, John Calvin and Julia Ann, moved around a lot. They were married in Choctaw County, MS in 1866. Their first son, Charles M Brown, was born there as well. Their daughter, Francis, was born in 1871 in Brownsville, TX. March 3, 1874, Rockie was born in Milam County, TX. Rockie's brother, Walter was born in Axle, TX about 1876 and in 1879 Sarah was born in Parker, TX. Since we don't have the 1890 Census, I don't know when but they eventually all came back to Mississippi. It seems as though Charles died sometime in 1880 in Texas. 

Map of the Brown Family Travels

On January 5, 1896, Rockie Lenora Brown married Charles Bryant Watson, who (scandal alert!) just so happened to be her second cousin. Rockie's sister, Sarah, also married another Oswalt cousin, Virgil.

Rockie and Charles Bryant went on to have eight children in Webster County, Mississippi:

1. Rupert Calvin Watson - Born 14 Mar 1897, Married Aletha Elvy Morris, Died 22 Jun 1974  

2. Ollie Winifred Watson - Born 10 Dec 1898, Married James Irvin Love, Died 5 June 1946 

3. Thomas Hugh Watson - Born 29 Jan 1901, Married Susan Irene Looney, Died 14 Sep 1978

4. Thelma Frances Watson - Born 19 May 1903, Married James Robert Yarbourgh, Died 7 Jan 1940

5. Lloyd Bryant Watson - Born 18 Mar 1904, Married Susan Tabitha Yarbrough, Died 17 Apr 1984

6. Lewis Charles Watson - Born 18 Jun 1907, Married Vera Fern McDonald, Died 19 Dec 1997

7. Violet Marie Watson - Born 7 Oct 1909, Married Lonnie Lee Fortner, Died 25 Oct 2003

8. Rivvie Lenora Watson - Born 10 Feb 1914, Died 12 May 1916

Rockie, Marie and Charles Bryant

Rockie spend the rest of her life in Webster County, Mississippi until her death on 11 Sep 1962. She is buried at the Sapa Cemetery in Webster County, Mississippi. 

Tombstone in Sapa Cemetery

*Edit: I learned that  the reason the Oswalts, Browns and maybe Watson's moved to Texas was to get free land. However, upon arrival they found out that a stipulation for the land was that they convert to Catholicism! Not these Baptists! 

SOURCES

Find A Grave, database and images (https://www.findagrave.com : accessed 22 April 2018), memorial page for Rockie Lenora Brown Watson (1874–1962), Find A Grave Memorial no. 14524971, citing Sapa Cemetery, Sapa, Webster County, Mississippi, USA ; Maintained by NatalieMaynor (contributor 46770385) .

Webster County Marriages

http://webster.msghn.org/marriages_u.html

United States Federal Census Records:

Year: 1880; Census Place: Precinct 2, Parker, Texas; Roll: 1322; Page: 402C; Enumeration District: 136

Year: 1900; Census Place: Beat 3, Webster, Mississippi; Page: 2; Enumeration District: 0101

Year: 1910; Census Place: Beat 3, Webster, Mississippi; Roll: T624_756; Page: 2A; Enumeration District: 0110; FHL microfilm: 1374769

Year: 1920; Census Place: Starnes, Webster, Mississippi; Roll: T625_899; Page: 4B; Enumeration District: 116

Year: 1930; Census Place: Beat 4, Webster, Mississippi; Roll: 1172; Page: 9B; Enumeration District: 0015; FHL microfilm: 2340907

Year: 1940; Census Place: Webster, Mississippi; Roll: m-t0627-02077; Page: 11B; Enumeration District: 78-15

Welcome!

Welcome to my blog! I am so glad your stopped by.

Although I have been researching my family history since 2007, the idea for a blog did not cross my mind until just a few weeks ago. I have always wanted to share my finds through a book. Though I still hope to do that one day, I am excited to share my family's story with you through this blog. I hope you will join me on this journey.