I’ve decided to tidy my digital life a bit and consolidate my two family history blogs into one. So, all content from this blog has been merged into my newly updated maternal side blog, A Long Way To Tennessee. I’m still ironing out the kinks, but I’m pleased with the results so far. This will […]
John Bembry, oldest son of Miles Bembry, was a colorful character. In 1831 he stabbed a cousin, Littleton Bryan, to death, apparently over some kind of property dispute. Wanted notices were were posted all over Georgia and Florida by Littleton’s father, Moses Bryan, who offered a substantial reward for his capture. However, there is no […]
If you are a descendant of slave holders, there are two parts to researching that aspect of your family history. 1.) Finding the enslaved people in records and documents. I am learning a lot about that, through trial and error, and will post more about it later. 2.) Figuring out an accurate and respectful system […]
Thomas Bembry was my 4th great-grandfather, and an unlucky man. The slaves that he held were also unlucky, as they were all eventually sold off to settle debts. The first mention of slaves held by Thomas Bembry that I have found occurs in 1821, when his wife, Patsy Dicken, inherited slaves from her grandfather, Nathan […]
It must have been particularly difficult to be held as a slave by Kenneth because his finances were a roller coaster ride. He was constantly buying, selling, and mortgaging people (as well as land and other property) to keep up with growing debt. Because there are so many enslaved people involved, and because Kenneth was […]
Recently, I wrote about how Kenneth apprenticed a free boy of color named William Williams. Well, of course I had to find out more about his mother, Fanny Williams! Which led me into an entirely new (for me) area of genealogy: that of “free people of color” in the antebellum South. Fanny Williams deeded her […]
Fanny Williams, a “free woman of color,” indentures her eight year old son to Kenneth Bembry.
Miles Bembry I is the first Bembry I have on record in America, and my “brick wall.” Recently, I was surprised to discover that he moved from Edgecombe County, North Carolina, to Pulaski County, Georgia late in life to join his sons, Thomas and William. Miles died in November or December of 1838. His son […]
Thomas Bembry’s household shows three white females in 1820 and 1830, all of whom are gone by 1840. There are no obvious marriage records for any of them, and Thomas did not leave a will (of which I am aware) that would name them, so they have been a brick wall ever since I started […]
I’ve been deep into the weeds lately, organizing the first two generations of Bembrys. It’s more or less like herding cats, particularly when it comes to Williams. I wrote previously about how I had mixed up Miles Bembry II and William Bembry I. To be fair, I wasn’t the only one: their estate files were […]
