Family Group Friday: the Watsons

 

Charles Bryant and Rockie Lenora Brown Watson and their family

Left to right: Lewis Watson, Lloyd Watson, Charles Bryant Watson, Marie Watson, Rockie Brown Watson, Hugh Watson, Ollie Watson Love, Irvin Love, Thelma Watson, Rupert Watson, Aletha Morris Watson. Uncertain at this time the names of the children pictured.

Their children were: 

           

Back row: Ola Peeples Yarborough, 2nd wife of Jim Yarborough after Thelma died. Thelma was the daughter of Bryant & Rockie; Violet Marie Watson Fortner, married to Lonnie Lee (Pat) Fortner,daughter of Bryant & Rockie; Leatha Morris Watson, wife of Rupert Calvin Watson,son of B&R; Irene Looney Watson, wife of Thomas Hugh Watson, son of B&R. Front row: Lewis Charles and Vera McDonald Watson. Lewis was the son of B&R; Lloyd Bryant & Sudie Yarborough Watson. Lloyd was the son of B & R. Sudie and Jim were brother and sister who married Thelma and Lloyd, brother and sister. Some good, good people, and I miss every one of them. - Mary Sue Watson Boatman

The Archive of Aches of Grandma Watson

             I have recently been engaged in assembling the stories and documentation I have collected over the decades I have been researching into a book of sorts that I can print and share easily. Through this process, I have gathered many newspaper items preserved on newspapers.com that mention my ancestors. This has been a fascinating look into their presence in the community. As I was going through the Webster Progress (a newspaper based in Webster County, MS) in the 1960s, I was both delighted and a little regretful to find a series of items detailing the injury and subsequent illness of my great-great grandmother, Rockie Brown Watson. I have written about her previously in Rockie Brown. There are a few items in 1961 and early in 1962 that mention family members visiting Rockie. On March 15, 1962 we learn of her 88th birthday party. 

        Two short months later we learn that she has had a bad fall and broken her hip.

        

         Then there is a series of items telling of her family visiting and describing her state of health.

  

Then we learn that she has been taken to the hospital but seems to be improving.

A little over a month after she went to the hospital, we learn that Rockie has passed. 

           I think my favorite part of this is the letter from the family that is signed "The family of Mrs. Rockie Watson (Grandma Watson). This shows the love of the community for this special woman and the spread and influence that she and her descendants had on the community in Webster County. And now, over 125 years after she and Charles Bryant started their family, the presence and influence of her family continues.

My Scots-Irish History

When Abraham Hillhouse was born about 1639, his hometown of Ayr* in the Scottish council (county) of Ayrshire was like most struggling settlements in the Scottish lowlands. The area had been through a series of plagues over the last 100 years and the people were tired and looking for a change in their luck. So when King James the VI offered land to lowlanders willing to immigrate to Ulster, Ireland, many families, including Abraham's, took advantage of the opportunity and sailed across the North Channel towards a new life.

Abraham and his family settled in Parish of Aghanloo. The family appears in records in the towns of Ballycastle, Atikelly, Free Hall and Streeve Hill. They also spent at least 101 days in the city of Derry during the 1689 Siege of Londonderry. Abraham's brother, James, is said to be the mayor of Derry during this time.

The Lowlanders did not quite fit in, though. Not only were their politics and culture Scottish but their Presbyterian religion was incompatible with the Catholic Highlanders and Irish or the King's Anglican Church. The Lowland immigrants became second-class citizens in Ulster -- forced to pay tithes to the Church of England and not represented in the local government. Many of these Ulster Scots or Scots-Irish fled for America others would leave eventually but not before things got even worse.

Between the years of 1717 and 1776, more than a quarter of a million Ulster Presbyterians immigrated to America. Most of these settled into the Appalachian mountains.

Abraham and his wife, Janet had at least 3 children, Abraham, James, and John, all born at Free Hall. John later inherits Free Hall and he and his wife, Rachel, raise their six sons there. John and Rachel are buried at the Arclow Church.

At least 2 of John's sons immigrated to America: Reverend James Hillhouse and Samuel Hillhouse my ancestor. 

Samuel married Anne Luckey in North Carolina and the two settled in western Rowan County after her father's death. It was around this time that the name Hillhouse was changed to Hillis. All five of Samuel's sons fought in the war for independence. Samuel's daughter, Martha, married William Minter.

William and Martha's daughter, AnnaMariah Minton married Peter Morgan. Peter and AnnaMariah had a son, Charles, in 1801 in South Carolina.

Charles married Lucretia and had a daughter Barbara Sophia Morgan. Sophie (1845-1922) is my 3rd great grandmother.

*Though most sources agree that Abraham Hillhouse was born in Ayr, there is enough evidence to make me believe that his ancestry was not Scottish but English. The Hillhouse name originated in North England and Ayr is very close to the English border.

Like Something From Dickens

    The story I am about to attempt to tell is one I have wanted to share for a while. I think it is a fascinating story, like something from the Masterpiece Theater. There are so many historical details that are important that I will never be able to cover it all in this short story format but I will do my best to hit the highlights. I have learned so much about history through my genealogy research but the politics of Western Europe during the 15th -17th centuries is over my head.

     The Home/Hume family is one of the oldest families in Scotland. They are descended from the Saxon

Clan Home Tartan

kings of England who ruled from about 800-1100 A.D. The Homes had a very turbulent time, falling in and out of favor with rulers of their time. George Home, 1st Earl of Dunbar (1556-1611) was the most prominent and most influential Scotsman in England. He was the chief Scottish advisor to King James.

     In 1715 there was an attempt to regain the thrones of England, Ireland and Scotland for the House of Stuart later to be called the Jacobite Rising of 1715. James Hume, son of Charles, 6th Earl of Hume, was "true to his religion" and took part in the rebellion and consequently was forced to forfeit his estate.

     Forced to flea religious persecution, James, his wife, Marjorie, and their daughter, Barbara, set sail on the ship Caledonia for New York City. They had plans to stay with Marjorie's aunt and uncle. Disease broke out on the ship and James and Marjorie died leaving Barbara in the care of a family friend, William Hoge. William left young Barbara with her relatives in New York City and went to make his home in New Jersey.

    William eventually married Barbara and they went on to have 9 children who were leaders in the Shenandoah frontier.

    Maybe I am romanticizing it. The wealthy family that loses everything for fighting for what they believe; the parents dying on the ship and never reaching American and their second chance; the young girl, left in the care of a young man who eventually becomes her husband. It just sounds like something Charles Dickens would have written.

     James Hume is my 9th great-grandfather. I suppose that also means that I am descended from the Saxon kings.


Sources:

• Taylor, James. The Great Historic Families of Scotland. Vol. 1, J.S. Virtue & Co, London, 1887, http://homepages.rootsweb.com/~hume/histfaml.htm
• Johnston, David E. A History of Middle New River Settlements and Contiguous Territory. Standard PTC. & PUB. Co., Huntington, West Virgina. 1906. p 412-414
• Kendall, Hazel May Middleton. The descendants of William Gregg, the Friend immigrant to Delaware, 1682: from which nucleus disseminated nests of Greggs to Pennsylvania, Virginia, and North Carolina. Anderson, Indiana: H.M. Kendall, 1944, pp. 26-28. Note: This is a link to download the whole book in PDF format.
• SR James Hume (1639-1682) - Find A Grave Memorial.” Find A Grave, www.findagrave.com/memorial/171262969/james-hume.
• Clan Home. Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clan_Home

Known and New Relations

James Murphy Looney was born March 7, 1853 in Jackson County, AL. By 1860, his family was living in Franklin, TN. When he was just 13 his mother, Adeline Hogue Looney,  died, leaving him to help take care of his 5 younger siblings. James married Mary Susan Francis October 29, 1874.

John Calvin Looney was born in or near Hawkins County, TN on October 1, 1821. He married Adaline Hoge on December 18, 1851.

 His father, Michael Looney, Jr served as a private in Capt. James Cummings' Company, Child's Battalion, Mounted Gunmen, East Tennessee Volunteers in War of 1812, from October of 1814 to 2 May 1815. His military enlistment form describes his as 19 years old, height 5 feet 7 inches, complexion dark, dark hair, eyes gray.

Michael Looney Jr. died in 1825 in Jackson Co., Ala., "on Crow Creek near Anderson Station", presumably reasonably soon after the birth of his son, Carroll C. Looney in 1824. 

Michael's widow, Susan Matthews, then married Stephen Sutton in 1827, but they soon divorced. Stephen Sutton with wife and three Looney boys can be found in the 1830 census for Jackson Co, Ala. After their divorce, Michael's widow then married #3 Jesse Rogers, 1839 in Franklin Co, TN. 

The 26 Sept 1825 probate of Michael's estate is recorded in Jackson Co, Ala Probate Records 1820-1830, pages 130-133.

Susan's father, James Matthews, was born in 1764 in Lunenburg County, VA. James married Elizabeth Hardy in December of 1788. He served as a private in Georgia's 2nd Militia under Captain James Merriwethers during the War of 1812. He eventually moved to Jackson Countty, AL where on August 1, 1839 He registered land in his name. He died just eight years later. 

James's father, William Matthews was a land owner in Lunenburg County, VA. He was married to Susannah Read on December 31, 1763. (This family loved Christmas weddings apparently!) William is documented as having purchased and sold land in Lunenburg County several times before he died in 1804.  Susannah Read is listed in the Will of her father, William Read, in 1764 with her mother, Elizabeth, and her siblings. 

Thomas Reade was born in 1649 in Ware Parish, Gloucester County, VA, USA. He was the son of Col. (Gov) George Esq. Reade (1608-1674) and Elizabeth Martiau Reade (1625-1696).

Thomas married Lucy Bernard Gwyn in Dec. 1694 at Albington Parish, Gloucester, Virginia.  Lucy was the daughter of Dr. Edmund Gwyn (1635-1683) and Lucy Bernard (1647-1675).
Thomas died in 1716 in Gloucester County, Virginia, USA. He was 67 years old. 

Colonel George Reade was born at Linkenholt Manor, Hampshire, England in 1608 into a very prominent family. He immigrated to Virginia in 1636 with Governor John Harvey. George worked as Harvey's secretary and resided with him at the governor's mansion for sometime after his arrival. He was eventually made the Secretary of the Colony and Acting Governor of Virginia (1638-39); member of the Council of Virginia; member of the House of Burgesses from James City Co.,VA in 1649 and frequently thereafer. He became a member of the Governor's Council on 13 Mar 1657-58, which office he held until his death in 1671. 
He married Elizabeth Martiau in 1641 in York County, VA. 

His daughter, Mildred Reade, was born October 2, 1643, at Warner Hall Plantation in York County, VA. She married Colonel Augustine Warner II, son of Captain Augustine Warner and Mary Towneley, in 1670. 

Mildred Warner was the daughter of Mildred Reade and Augustine Warner. She was born in Virginia about 1671. She married Lawrence Washington in 1686. They had three children: John, Augustine, and Mildred. After Lawrence's death, Mildred married George Gale. 

Augustine Washington was born on November 12, 1694 in Westmoreland, VA to Mildred Warner and Lawrence Washington. When Augustine came of age, he married Jane Butler, an orphan with considerable wealth of her own. The couple settled on his inherited property and quickly constructed a new house called "Wakefield." They had two sons, Lawrence and Augustine before Jane passed away in 1728. Three years later, Augustine remarried to Mary Ball. Their first born son was George Washington, First President of the United States of America

                           George Reade - Elizabeth Martiau

Thomas Reade - Lucy Gwyn                    Mildred Reade - Augustine Warner              Siblings

William Reade - Elizabeth                      Mildred Warner - Lawrence Washington      1st Cousins

Susannah Read -William Matthews          Augustine Washington- Mary  Ball               2nd Cousins

James Matthews -Elizabeth Hardy           George Washington                                   3rd Cousins

Susan Matthews -Michael Looney                                                       3rd Cousin, Once removed to G.W.

John Calvin Looney - Adaline Hoge                                                    3rd Cousin, Twice removed to G.W.
James Murphy Looney -  Mary Susan Francis                                       3rd Cousin, 3xs removed to G.W.

Susan Irene Looney                                                                           3rd Cousin, 4xs removed to G.W.

W.T.                                                                                                3rd Cousin, 5xs removed to G.W.

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 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

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

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

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 

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 known 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 breakthrough. 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