Tonia Kendrick's Blog – July 2010 Archive (11)

My grandmother’s grandmother was Mary (Patterson) Whitener. Family legend has it that she was at least part Cherokee. Mary was born in Ellijay, Georgia in 1869 and married William Whitener there in 1883. They lived in Murray County, Georgia in 1900. Sometime between 1904 and 1907, they moved to Oklahoma. According to my grandmother, they moved . . . → : CONTINUE…

This amusing anecdote refers to my five-times great-grandmother, Elizabeth (Patton) Hemphill. It is part of a series of Biographical Sketches from Burke County, North Carolina that were written by by Col Thomas George Walton (1815-1905) and were first published in the old Morganton Herald in 1894.

“The HEMPHILLs of Silver Creek and Old Fort emigrated from the North . . . → : …

I visited the Murray County Probate Court last week and came away with nine copies of marriage records. I went in with a pedigree chart highlighting direct ancestors who were married (or who I thought may have been married) in Murray County. I had marriage dates for many of them, so my goal was to get . . . → : CONTINUE READING

This week I’m looking for ancestors of Leaty (Lankford) West, whose gravestone I found several weeks ago. I have her parents as Wyatt Lankford and Morning Tabitha Bruer.

“Wiet” and Morning Lankford were enumerated on the 1880 Census in the Alaculsa District of Murray County, Georgia. I feel somewhat confident that these are Leaty’s parents, because they are . . . → :…

With so much information available online, it’s easy to forget the wealth of publications that are only available in print or on microfilm and that can often be found at libraries.

I find it helpful to prepare before visiting a library, otherwise I become overwhelmed with all the choices when I get there. Most libraries today have . . . → :…

Amos Johnson and his wife Betty are buried in Mount Pleasant Baptist Church Cemetery in Gilmer County, Georgia. They may be my 3x-great-grandparents, Amos and Elizabeth; however the dates don’t quite match up.

Census records (1850 and 1860) indicate that Amos Johnson was born about 1826, while the birthdate on this stone is 1817. The stone also records Amos’ death in . . . → :…

I’m looking for information on Robert West, who may have been my 3x great-grandfather. I’ve identified Robert as the father of William West, my great-great-grandfather based on two facts: 1) the Robert West family includes a William W. West in 1850 and 1860 in Polk County, Tennessee, and 2) William himself was enumerated as head of . . . → : CONTINUE…

It fascinates me to find connections between different branches of my family tree, possibly because I’ve always known there was a connection between my parents (besides the obvious).

Before you start thinking “cocktails in Appalachia,” I should explain that this is not a close connection. My father’s (maternal) great-grandmother is my mother’s (paternal) first cousin twice removed. . . . → :…

I received an email from Ancestry today with “Possible record matches” in the subject line. Those of you who use Ancestry know that they give you hints, with little green leaves indicating some sort of match in their records, whether it be in another tree, a historical record, etc. This email contained three such hints. Sometimes . . . → : CONTINUE…

Monteville Roberts owned and operated, with the help of family, the combined business establishment of a mill for grinding corn into meal and wheat into flour, a blacksmith shop, and general repair shop, all of which were vitally essential to the people. The combined enterprise, in Hamilton County, Tennessee, provided a flourishing business a home . . . → :…

I visited New Prospect Church Cemetery on Saturday. I knew that some Tuckers were buried there, because I had found headstone photos on Find-a-Grave for Churchwell Branch Tucker and his wife Rosamond. I also had found a listing last week for E. M. Ellis on the Murray County Cemeteries website; the dates were very close to . . . → : CONTINUE…