I first went down the genealogy rabbit hole about ten years ago. My family tree is about as Southern as it gets, with just one maternal line going back to colonial New England. With the exception of that one line, I can trace very few people “back to the boat.” Nearly all my other documented lines begin in 18th century North Carolina, South Carolina, and Virginia. View my public family tree on Ancestry.
My DNA shows British, Irish, and broader Western European ancestry along with mysterious dashes of Spanish, West African and South Asian. I’m definitely no DNA expert, but feel free to look me up on Ancestry, 23andMe, MyHeritage or GEDmatch if you think we may be cousins.
Slavery was unfortunately a big part of my family’s story. There are dozens of slave holders among my ancestors. There are also many African-Americans who share our surnames (particularly Bembry) and African-American cousins among my DNA matches. I share all the slavery records I unearth in order to complete the picture and to assist descendants with their research.
I am always happy to share my information, and welcome any tips, photos, or leads from other researchers or family members. If you have information to share, please post a comment! Or email me at kbmgenealogy@gmail.com.
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Please do credit me and link to this website if you republish or repost my research in any way. Thanks. 🙂
Kelly Bembry Midura
A Long Way to Tennessee 
Hi, Kelly. Do you know if the Elizabeth Hamilton who you describe is the mother of Jane Shaw who married Andrew Patterson? I believe Andrew Patterson became a captain in the U.S. Army and served under Andrew Jackson in the War of 1812. Thanks!
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My Great Grand parents too cousin!
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Would love to find out more about my 3rd great grandmother Mason Cole who lived in Benton Co, TN in the 1830 and maybe as early as 1820; She married 1st ? Davenport one daughter Jane who married Joel Johnson. 2nd husband was John Davenport. They moved to Illinois in the late 1840s. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thank you.
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Hi, I do not have her in my tree, but she is probably related some how. My suggestion would be to look at Humphreys County records. Benton County was created from a piece of Humphreys County in 1835. So, my first Cole ancestor in the area (Loyd Cole) arrived by 1830 to Humphreys, but is found later in Benton. He probably didn’t move, they just redrew the county lines around him.
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Hi Kelly,
My name is Gery Rives Gilbert. My Dad and Grandpa were William Rives. They were born in Sparta, GA
and we are African-American. My family would love to share our history with you if you think you would be interested.
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Hi Gery. Sure! As you can see from the blog, my Rives go back a little ways. Susan Rives was my 3g grandmother, and that is the most recent Rives in my family. But I would be happy to collaborate and see how we connect.
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Janet Gray McKenzie is my 6th great grandmother. The Clark’s eventually migrated to Indiana and that is where I am from.
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Hi Kelly – it’s been a while since we corresponded about Butlers and other Carroll Co. TN families. I am still trying to identify parents/siblings of Calvin J. Butler b. 1812 who mar. Martha HIcks; this remains my most vexing brick wall. Thanks for posting the wills of William Walker and his wife Nancy Townsend. I just added the info to my database. Email me – I have some comments on the slave Lucinda in Nancy’s will.
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Hello, My name is Thomas Mattocks and I have new information on the Barracks Plantation owned by Thomas Rives if you are interested. It was not located where the family believes it was and was not built by Thomas.
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Hi Kelly,
I just came across your website when I was doing some ancestry investigations. My three times great grandfather was Thomas Taylor Shaw. I discovered his burial site on Brick Church Pike called The Shaw Cemetery. There is a road next to where I live named Shaw Road. It isn’t a long road, but it runs between Brick Church Pike and Lickton Pike. I was interested in knowing who the road was named after. I do believe it was named after Thomas’s father William. Some of my family members remember people speaking of the “old Shaw place” on Shaw Road. The house no longer exists but we are fairly certain of where it sat. THe Shaws are through my father’s people.
My family’s history is here on Lickton Pike where I live. My grandchildren are the ninth generation to live on this land. My three times great grandfather originally owned land down to Shaw Road. This is through my mother’s people.
I just wanted to reach out. Some of the things you have posted about the Shaws just confirm what I have been finding. Thank you for your hard work.
Hallie Sloan
halster35@comcast.net
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Hi Hallie, thanks for commenting! That is pretty cool about your family history. I did see that Shaw road on the map while I was researching, and figured it must have something to with William. I had him mixed up with another William Shaw for the longest time! I wrote about how I got that straightened out here, if you are interested. https://longwaytotennessee.com/2021/02/28/lesson-learned-finding-the-correct-william-shaw/.
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Yes, I had read that. I haven’t been to the Shaw Cemetery in Sumner County yet. I saw that James Logan Shaw and some of his family are there. Have you been to it yet? I wasn’t sure if you were from around here or not. I also saw a tree by Casper Shaw. I haven’t reached out yet to see where he falls in the line.
Thank you for replying. It is so much fun digging into all of this!!
Hallie Sloan
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Hi Hallie, yes I am originally from Nashville. I have been to the Shaw cemetery—the one in the middle of a cow pasture anyway. There is probably more than one. I went grave-hunting up in Sumner County a few years ago, it was pretty interesting.
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