documenting my very southern genealogy from the plantation to the frontier
My 3rd great grandfather, James J Williams (1835-aft 1880), had a very common name. So common that there were at least two other "James J Williams" and even more "James Williams" in the same area of Georgia! For that reason, I was never entirely sure about his parentage, though I did have a feeling about … Continue reading James J Williams, who’s your daddy?
I think I have exhausted available resources on my favorite brickwall ancestor for the moment. I also find it's a good idea to step back once in a while, work on something else, and see what comes up in the meantime. However, I've discovered a few more details over the last few weeks that I … Continue reading Bits and Pieces on Miles Bembry
I haven't posted much recently due to having gone down the DNA rabbit hole! The "higher math" of DNA comparison and triangulation still eludes me. Maybe that will be a good project for retirement. But, I am pretty good at conventional research, and am able to use DNA cousins to either support or disprove my … Continue reading DNA Discoveries
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 … Continue reading Kenneth Bembry’s “Colored” Children?
Fanny Williams, a "free woman of color," indentures her eight year old son to Kenneth Bembry.
Matilda Williams was born 22 October 1856 in Bulloch County, GA, to James J. Williams and his wife, Mariah, last name probably Hendricks. James was born in Georgia in 1835, probably to Jonathan Williams and his wife Matilda. Jonathan was the son of Wilson Williams, a very early settler in the state. (The surname Williams … Continue reading Matilda Williams
Hiram Bembry, the son of John Thomas Bembry and Matilda Williams, was born 23 December 1881, probably in Echols County, Georgia. He married Palma Lashley on September 1905 at the age of 22. They set up a farm right next to his parents' place near Fort Union in Suwannee County. Together, Hiram and Palma had ten children: … Continue reading Hiram Bembry
John T. (probably Thomas) Bembry was born on 24 November 1854 while his parents were living in Sumter County, Georgia with Sarah's mother, Dolly Simpson. When he was eight years old, his father, Thomas N. Bembry, went off to fight in the Civil War, leaving him with his mother, possibly his grandmother, Dolly, and five younger … Continue reading John T Bembry
A Long Way to Tennessee 