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.

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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]

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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.

For those who love history, dream of adventure, riches, and fame; for those really believe they’ll hit the jackpot on the lottery scratch-off, for those still look up at night to see the stars and passing clouds. and for those who love to touch the past, here’s a challenge to give meaning to your visions and put money in your pocket.: Whatever happened to the Confederate gold?

If you worry about the fiscal state of the country or the money in your own pocket, the gold spoils of the civil war offer hundreds of chances to expand your net worth.

Thought the Confederacy was poor and in a state of penury by the war’s end? The central government still had great wealth even as the war put the administration on the run. The last Confederate Cabinet meeting presided over by Jefferson Davis was held on May 2, 1865, in Abbeville, SC, at the Burt-Stark House.

By the time Lee surrendered, five wagons of gold and silver—coins, bricks, and bars, the remains of the Confederate treasury’s reserve–were loaded May 24, 1865 in Richmond, at the train depot. Captain Parker of the Navy and an escort of armed troops, guarded the gold on the ride from Richmond, Virginia, to Anderson, South Carolina. There the gold was reloaded to wagons for shipment to Savannah or Charleston.

Confederate president Jefferson Davis met the caravan at Washington, GA. Later, scouts observed Union troops near Augusta, and the caravan returned to Washington (which is now in Lincoln County).

Unknown raiders attacked the wagon train near the Dionysius Chennault Plantation (the home of an elderly Methodist minister)–only a 100 yards from the house. During the attack, the gold disappeared. Most researchers and contemporary observers believe it was hidden, but the location of this cache of riches remains a mystery.

via OnMilwaukee.com – Reader Blogs.

BARBARA VADEN SPROULL, homemaker and community volunteer

Born: Christmas Day, 1926, Anniston

• The widow of Horace Miller Sproull Jr., who died in 2008, she is the daughter of Thomas Hunt Vaden, who married Eula Crook in 1925 and lived in a house where the Quintard Hardee’s restaurant is now.

Vaden worked for the power company.

• Eula Crook’s parents were Samuel L. Crook, who was a first cousin once removed to James F. Crook. Crook was a business partner of Dr. T.W. Ayers in the Jacksonville Republican, later moved to Anniston to become The Anniston Star. They had bought it from Mr. Crook’s father.

• Samuel L. Crook was cousin to a Calhoun County probate judge, Emmett F. Crook. They had a daughter, Margaret, who married Ned Almond, later to become Gen. Almond, aide to Gen. Dwight Eisenhower. Gen. Almond retired in Anniston.

• Barbara Vaden Sproull’s late husband, known as Miller, was the son and only child of H. Miller Sproull Sr. and Sara Powers Sproull. She died within days after Miller was born; Sproull senior died when Miller was 21.

Sproull Sr. was the son of James Creswell Sproull. He had three sisters: Caroline Sproull Knight, who married Roy; Virginia Sproull Weatherly, who married Clay; and Catherine Sproull Hamilton, who married Ralph Hamilton, one of three Hamilton sons of Tobe Hamilton. One of the sons, Charles Hamilton, became a benefactor to several local institutions, including the hospital, the Boys Club and the YMCA.

• James Creswell Sproull, born in 1856, came to Anniston from Rome, Ga., in 1887 and founded Anniston Hardware, which, when telephones were installed, had the number 1.

via Generational Kudzu: Barbara Vaden Sproull | AnnistonStar.com.

Mr. Sproull, a native of Anniston, was born the son of Horace Miller Sproull Sr. and Sara Powers Sproull on April 29, 1920. His mother died five days after giving birth. In 1950, he became the third generation president of The Anniston Hardware Company and The Gadsden Hardware Company, family owned businesses founded by his grandfather James Creswell Sproull, Wade Cothran Sproull and J.A. Cheney in 1887. He was widely known as an astute businessman and civic leader.

He retired from the hardware business in 1976 when the business was sold to a local group of investors. As a young boy, he was a member of the Boy Scouts of America and earned the Eagle Scout badge. He attended Anniston public schools through the tenth grade. He graduated in 1937 from The Darlington School, Rome, Ga., a college preparatory school, and received his B.S. degree in Economics from Davidson College, Davidson, N.C., in 1941. While at Davidson, he was a member of the Phi Delta Theta Fraternity and the varsity tennis team. He joined the U.S. Navy in July of 1941 prior to Pearl Harbor.

Following his graduation from Midshipman School in 1942, he was assigned to the Pacific Theatre where he served during World War II, participating in six naval battles against Japan. He was honorably discharged as a Lt. Commander from the Navy in October 1946. Upon returning to Anniston he was made Vice President of The Anniston Hardware Company. In 1947, he married Barbara Crook Vaden and they had six children. He survived a tragedy in June, 1959 when he suffered second and third degree burns over 67 percent of his body during a mishap at a Father’s Day get together with family and relatives at his home.

A lifelong member of The First Presbyterian Church, he was an Elder and a Deacon. He was a teacher of The Sam Russell Bible Class there for thirty years. In 1962, he helped raise money to build the educational building for the church. He also helped to found and was President of The Soup Bowl, a charitable organization feeding the hungry.

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via Darlington School: Alumni.