Everything but the kitchen sink.

Okay, let’s do a quick wrap-up here…

The PARK family has descendency ties to Robert E. Lee; his ancestor who was George Washington’s wife (maiden name CUSTIS); PARK/PARKE/PARKS descendants are connected to the Burchfields — the Burchfields via the Park line (somewhere) are kin to the Gustafsson/Justice family originally from Sweden; and how did I get here (this time)?

Tracing the Davis-Smathers connection of Aunt Betty Davis (married – Jack Abernathy) — trying to learn about her father’s family.

The other point of interest is the ties to a Cherokee Chief Oowahooskie (various spellings found). His ‘wife’ had been captured from a white settlement/group when she was about six years old. They had three sons; she and the sons were later released — they lived as white men, and were land-holders. This made for Cherokee heritage claims with US courts unsuccessful — but the Indian connection seems valid from research/sources found online, now.

There is also a connection between the PARK family and a CHANDLER line in Georgia…will follow this up later.

Another connection exist between the DAVIS line and the CARPENTER (ZIMMERMAN) families from North Carolina — this warrants further research, since my mother and my father’s ancestral line include connection to the CARPENTER (ZIMMERMAN) lines from the Carolinas.

NO direct Patey/PATE/PATTY connections — but have found AYERS/AYRES, PAYNE, and McClellan connections in the Carolina regions (where my husbands family were from)…The PAYNE connection may link up with the TEAGUE, SPEER, PERRY, OWEN or other related families who later migrated to NE Alabama (near Ft. Payne).

With the research from the past three days — “We are all kin” has more meaning then is previously did, for me.

Each friend I have helped with their family tree research, I have also found something that fit with prior research for my own complicated ancestral lines.

Are your ancestors included in this tangle of kinfolks?

Contact me with a bit of your grandparents vital statics (dates, location, family members) — I will see what I can find.

– Cathy Ann Abernathy

weavercat@gmail.com

Davidson College – Class Memorials – Summer 2008

He was elected finance commissioner for the City of Anniston and served from 1962–66. He helped found and build The Anniston Academy, a college preparatory school, and served as chairman of the board. The school later was named The Donoho School for which he was a director emeritus. His leisure-time activities included being an avid reader, a scratch golfer, an expert hunter, a world traveler, and a civilian pilot. He is survived by his wife, Barbara V. Sproull, 100 Raemon Dr., Anniston, AL 36207; children, James Creswell Sproull IV, Sara Sproull Choquette, Eva Abel Sproull, Hunt Miller Sproull (Susan Vinsant Sproull), Barbara Sproull Snow (Gary), and Horace Miller Sproull III (Joy Martin Sproull); grandchildren, James Creswell Sproull V, Drayton Allison Sproull, Paschal Trippe Sproull, Suzanne Sproull Choquette, Sara Catherine Choquette, Justin Hunt Sproull, Marie Louise Sproull, Eva Catherine Sproull, Chelsea Caroline Sproull, Logan Sproull Snow, Shannon Wimberly Snow, Vaughn Morton Stewart III, Houston Sproull Andrews, H. Miller Sproull IV, Wimberly Elisabeth Sproull, Holly Milliken Sproull, and Gabriel Sparks Sproull; and great-grandchildren, Lucienne Sproull, Hunter Jackson Sproull, Jackson Sproull, and Reagan Sproull.

Daily Home – Petition granted to condemn well property

PELL CITY — St. Clair County Probate Judge Mike Bowling granted a petition by the city to condemn the former Avondale Mills’ well property.

The well property is located along U.S. 231, and is now owned by Pell City-Tifton Properties, LLC, which is a subsidiary of Thunder Enterprises of Chattanooga.

Thunder Enterprises bought most of the Avondale Mills properties in Pell City, about one year after the local plant closed in 2007.

Avondale Mills allowed the city to operate the well on the condition that it kept the property up and provided free water to the company’s Pell City plant.

According to documents obtained by The Daily Home, the city had an option to renew a 20-year well lease with Avondale but failed to do so within the required time frame.

Pell City-Tifton Properties, LLC, offered to sell the one-acre commercial plot to the city for $1.9 million but eventually lowered its price to $1 million.

Anniston council members meet with Creek Indians

Three Anniston City Councilmen met Monday with Creek Indian officials from Oklahoma, but the Creeks didn’t offer much new information about their claim to the former Fort McClellan.

Tiger Hobia, the Kialegee Tribal Town’s town king, and Henry Harjo, who spoke for Hobia throughout most of the meeting, said they couldn’t disclose exactly what the group wants at McClellan or what they would do with the land.

“We can’t say exactly what we want because we’re still doing our due diligence and speaking with everyone we need to talk to about this,” Harjo said.

He said Monday’s visit was mainly to introduce the council to Hobia.

[...MORE]

via Anniston Star – Anniston City Council meeting with Oklahoma Creek Indian group.

Vincent group petitions for annexation into Harpersville – Breaking News from The Birmingham News – al.com

The mayors of Vincent and Harpersville received certified notification Tuesday of a petition requesting the annexation of Vincent into the town of Harpersville.

A letter certifying receipt of the petition of more than 50 names, and a copy of the petition, was sent by certified mail from the office of the Shelby County Probate Judge to the mayors, said Kimberly Melton, chief clerk.

Noble Naugle, a Vincent farmer who helped organize the petition drive, said the move is in response to the the failure of Vincent leaders to hold a town meeting about a proposed quarry.

“We’ve had no guidance or leadership about the quarry and the citizens feel left in the dark,” Naugle said.

White Rock out of Florida wants to build a limestone quarry in Vincent that the company says would bring 125 jobs.

Harpersville Mayor Theoangelo Perkins said his first step will be to inform the city council of the letter and petition.

“We will evaluate it,” Perkins said. “The annexation would have advantages and disadvantages but it’s really too soon to make any comments.”

Vincent Mayor Ray McAllister said the letter and petition have been turned over to city attorney Corey Moore for his review.

“We were a little bit surprised,” McAllister said. “We believe the majority of folks of Vincent would want to stay folks of Vincent.”

According to McAllister, Vincent’s population is about 2,000. Harpersville also has about 2,000 residents, Perkins said.

[possible kin: Riggins/Dunlap, my maternal relatives in Al, Ga, Tx, Ar]

——–

9. Elizabeth Ann Riggins (William Gant, Littleton) born abt. 1815 in AL and died abt. 1895. She was married Mar. 17, 1833 in Bibb Co. AL to Alexander S. W. Dunlap son of James Dunlap & Nancy Unknown. He was born abt. 1806 in SC and died abt. 1866 in Monroe Co. AR.

Notes about Elizabeth Riggins Riggins

She is found in her father’s household in 1830 Bibb Co. AL census.

She is found in the 1870 & 1880 Monroe Co AR census as a widow.

Notes about Alexander Dunlap

He is found in the 1850 Shelby Co. AL census.

He is found in the 1860 Monroe Co. AR census.

Childrenof Elizabeth Riggins & Alexander Dunlap

52. i. Minerva C. Dunlap born abt. 1835 in AL.
53. ii. Nancy A. Dunlap born abt. 1837 in AL.
54. iii. Miller Dunlap born abt. 1842 in AL.
55. iv. Mary Malissa Dunlap born abt. 1843 in AL.
56. v. Milly Elizabeth Dunlap born abt. 1845 in AL.
57 vi. William G. Dunlap born abt. 1847 in AL.
58. vii. David A. Dunlap born abt. 1849 in AL.
59. viii. James B. Dunlap born Feb. 1853 in AL.
60. ix. Bascom Akin Dunlap born abt. 1854 in MS.
61. x. Almus Monroe Dunlap born Sept. 1856 in MS.
63. xi. Malona Julia Dunlap born June 1859.

via Littleton Riggins and Descendants-Generation 3.

St. Clair Times – Camp Sumatanga surpasses target of $300,000

Camp Sumatanga will remain open.

In a release last week, camp officials stated that Sumatanga Camp and Retreat Center in Gallant has raised over $400,000 towards its goal of sustaining itself past December 2009.

The initial goal was to raise $300,000 by the end of August (that milestone was passed in late July).

As of Wednesday, Aug. 6th, $401,739.23 had been received.

The funds have been used to pay down lines of credit, make needed repairs and sustain the camp through a difficult economic climate that had led to a decline in reservations.

“Donations have come in the form of nickels and dimes collected by young summer campers and delivered in plastic bags, special offerings collected by congregations, and individual checks for thousands of dollars,” the release reads in part.

Sephardic Jews have lived in the state for more than 300 years,(*) (*) (*) especially in and around Charleston (*). Until about 1830, South Carolina had the largest population of Jews in North America. Many of South Carolina’s Jews have assimilated into Christian society, shrinking Judaism down to less than 1% of the total religious makeup. In addition, Roman Catholicism is growing in South Carolina due to immigration from the North.

[...much MORE]

via South Carolina: Facts, Discussion Forum, and Encyclopedia Article.

Intrigued with tracing my family lineage online, I was startled one night to stumble upon a supressed chapter of American founders, and for better or for worse, to discover the key to my lifelong struggle with a series of symptoms that had long mystified my doctors.

An amazing new history is emerging of a Mediterranean people, sometimes referred to as Melungeons, who settled American in the 1500′s long before the Northern Europeans first arrived. (The Arabic origin of the name Melungeon–”Melun-Jinn”–means one who has been abandoned by God–a cursed soul.) No, this tale does not begin with the early New Mexican settlers, but begins with a Southeastern lineage that has spread throughout the United States, and the rare and potentially decimating genetic disease traced to these colorful people.

Even more intriguing, this disease parallels some of the symptoms of Chronic Fatigue Immune Dysfunction Syndrome (CFIDS), fibromyalgia, Alzheimer’s, Multiple Sclerosis, and Diabetes. It also includes a group of other symptoms regularly ignored or misdiagnosed by physicians: acute chest pain, pleuritis, appendicitis-like attacks, arthritis–particularly of the feet, ankles, knees and hips, and the symptom for which it is named, a recurring high fever that lasts three to four days and dissipates. The name of this insidious genetic “misspelling” is Familial Meditteranean Fever (FMF). If your family story featured an ancestor called “Black Dutch,” “Black Scot,” or Cherokee, listen up.

Ironically, the story of the Melungeon people has been broken not by the US press, but by the BBC correspondent Richard Lister. He was astonished to find the streets of the Appalachian village he visited filled with Melungeon descendants who “would not look our of place on the Turkish coast with their dark olive skin ad straight black hair.”

Sir Francis Drake brought many of these Portuguese, Armenian, and Ottoman Turks to America after he freed them from the Spanish in 1587. Genetic studies now also indicate Jewish lineage in the Melungeon people as the Portuguese Jews were fleeing persecution.

I suspect Drake was relived to deliver this human cargo and avoid whatever strange malady these people suffered. In an era of mysterious plagues, a shipload of people running high fevers would have terrified any captain.

[...Much MORE]

via Home Page.

COMMON MELUNGEON SURNAMES

Adams, Adkins, Allen, Allmond, Ashworth, Barker, Barnes, Bass, Bean, Beckler, Belcher, Bedgood, Bell, Bennet, Berry, Beverly, Biggs, Blankenship, Bolen, Bolling, Bolton, Boone, Bolin/Bowlin, Boulder, Bunch, Bullion, Burton, Butler, Butters, Buxton, Byrd, Campbell, Carrico, Carter, Casteel, Caudill, Chapman, Chavis/Chavises, Clark, Cloud, Coal/Cole, Coffey,Collins/Colins, Coleman, Coles, Colley, Collier, Collins, Collinsworth, Colyer, Cooper, Corman, Counts, Cox, Coxe, Criel, Croston, Crow, Cumba/Cumbo/ Cumbow/ Curry, Custalow, Dalton, Dare, Davis, Denham, Delp, Dennis, Dial, Dooley, Dorton, Doyle,Driggers, Dula, Dye, Dyess, Ely, Epps, Evans, Fields, Freeman, French, Gallagher, Gann, Garland, Gibson/Gipson, Goen/Goings, Goodman, Gorvens, Gowan/Gowins, Graham, Greene, Gwinn, Hale, Hall, Hammon(d), Harmon, Harris, Harvie/Harvey, Hawkes, Hendricks/Hendrix, Hill, Hillman, Hogge, Holmes, Hopkins, Howe, Hyatt, Jackson, James, Johnson, Jones, Keith(e), Kennedy, Kiser, Langston, Laie, Lawson, Locklear, Lopes, Lowry, Lucas, Maddox, Maggard, Major, Male, Malone(y), Marion, Marsh, Martin, Mayle, Minard, Miner/Minor, Mizer, Moore, Morley, Moseley, Mozingo, Mullins/Melon, Nash, Nelson, Newman, Niccans, Nichols, Noel, Norris, Orr, Osborn(e), Oxendine, Page, Paine , Patterson, Perkins, Perry, Phelps, Phipps, Prinders, Polly, Powell, Powers, Pritchard, Pruitt, Ramey/Remy, Rasnick, Reaves/Reeves, Revels, Rice, Richardson, Riddle, Rivers, Roberson, Robertson, Robinson, Russell, Sammons, Sampson, Sawyer, Scott, Sexton, Shavis, Shephard/Shepherd, Short(t), Sizemore, Smiling, Smith, Stallard, Stanley, Steel, Stevens, Stewart, Strothers, Sweatt/Swett, Swindall, Tally, Tacket, Taylor, Thompson, Tipton, Tolliver, Tuppance, Turner, Vanover, Vicars/Viccars, Vickers, Ware, Watts, Weaver, White, Whited, Wilkins, Williams(on), Willis, Wilson, Wisby, Wise, Wood, Wright, Wyatt, Wynn.

[...MORE]

via Home Page.