documenting my very southern genealogy from the plantation to the frontier
A couple of days ago, I heard about a website called Archive Grid on a podcast. As usual when I find a new archive, I ran a quick search for "Bembry," because I can be pretty sure whatever comes up will relate to my family in some way. To my surprise, a letter from personal … Continue reading Maybe He Just Needed Killin’
I have been scanning more photos found at my grandmother's house. This photo, she confirms, is a Sunday School class from Mount Nebo Baptist church in Buena Vista, Tennessee. Judging from the cars and clothes, I think it must have been taken in the early 1930s. My grandmother, who grew up attending Mount Nebo, identifies … Continue reading Carroll County, Tennessee Sunday School class
For the last few weeks, I have been working on Miles Bembry's FAN club in an attempt to finally topple that Bembry brickwall. I've gathered a ton of information! But I am starting to confuse myself by now, and so I think I need to take a step back to properly organize and summarize it … Continue reading Nansemond Connections
A few months ago, I learned that Thomas Taylor was my 5th great grandfather. I recently returned to researching that line. It was a bit of a brick wall at first, because I could not find primary sources for multiple online claims that he was the "Colonel Thomas Taylor" who was a Revolutionary soldier in … Continue reading The Curious Case of Colonel Thomas Taylor
Earlier this year, while researching William Shaw, I discovered that Thomas Taylor was my 5th great grandfather. That whole line was kind of giving me a headache after having to lop off an entire line of the wrong Shaws, so I set it aside for a while. Recently I've been researching Thomas's family, and found … Continue reading Will of Thomas Taylor, 7 August 1815, Davidson County, Tennessee
I recently visited my family in Nashville. While we were there, my kids uncovered the minutes of the Buena Vista Tennessee community club at my grandmother's house. My mother had it scanned, and the links to download it are at the bottom of this post. Buena Vista (pronounced "Bewna Vista," or just "Bewny") is a … Continue reading Buena Vista Tennessee Community Club minute book, 1938-1945
William Jones was my 9th great-grandfather. His daughter, Jane (or Joane) Jones married Henry Liles, who is also named in these wills. They were Kinchen Liles' grandparents. William was illiterate, as evidenced by his signing with his initials. He dictated two wills, one in January of 1722, and another in May of that year. He … Continue reading The Two Wills of William Jones, 1722, Chowan County, North Carolina
Kinchen Liles was my 5th great-grandfather. He died in 1813 in Wake County, North Carolina. The paper trail on his probate shows one way in which enslaved people were used as an income stream for slaveholders. Kinchen was around 47 when he died, apparently unexpectedly, as he left no will. Kinchen left behind a wife, … Continue reading Kinchen Liles and a man named Joe
When it came to identifying the wife of John Glosson, I got lucky! A combination of land and probate records quickly fell into place. In 1828, my 4th great-grandparents, John Glosson "and Nancy his wife" of Chatham County, North Carolina, sold two tracts of land in neighboring Orange County to Elizabeth Brewer. Both deeds mention … Continue reading Nancy Cate Glosson’s Dowry
John Glosson (1802 - aft. 1880) was my 4th great-grandfather and had been a brick wall forever. I knew that he was born in North Carolina, and had tentatively placed him as a John "Glisson" in Duplin county just because the household matched. But I was never convinced, and a couple of weeks ago I … Continue reading Another Brick Wall Falls: John Glosson of Chatham County, North Carolina
A Long Way to Tennessee 