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

[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.

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.

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.

Washington » Mormon Church leaders presented President Barack Obama with a detailed family tree in five leather-bound volumes Monday during a private meeting in the Oval Office.

The 30-minute sit-down was the first time Obama has met with Thomas S. Monson, president of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Monson was escorted by Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, the highest ranking Mormon in the government, and LDS Apostle Dallin Oaks, the chairman of the faith’s genealogical committee.

LDS leaders have made a tradition of presenting presidents with genealogical breakdowns, giving similar reports to Bill Clinton and George W. Bush, but none have been as varied as Obama’s, whose mother was from Kansas and whose father was from Kenya. Previous ancestral examinations have uncovered Obama’s Irish and German lineage as well.

“President Obama’s heritage is rich with examples of leadership, sacrifice and service,” Monson said. “We were very pleased to research his family history and are honored to present it to him today.”

The bound volumes include details about multiple generations of his family going back hundreds of years.

In a brief statement, Obama said he enjoyed meeting the Mormon leaders and appreciated their gift.

“I’m grateful for the genealogical records that they brought with them and am looking forward to reading through the materials with my daughters,” he

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said. “It’s something our family will treasure for years to come.”

The meeting, arranged by Reid, was closed to the press.

[...MORE]

via Mormon leader presents family history to Obama – Salt Lake Tribune.

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.

CHILLICOTHE — ver wondered if you might be related to a famous historical figure or the family down the street who has the same last name? You just might be able to find that information in a cozy little shop in Chillicothe.

What began as an effort to help her son win a scholarship has become a life-long passion for Doris Cozart.

Cozart said her love for genealogy began some 40 years ago when her son Robert Carl was an Eagle Scout. He was offered a chance to apply for a Sons of American Revolution scholarship.

One of the scholarship requirements was to prove four generations on all sides of his family. “This was when I really got serious about family research,” she said.

“I was a Parker, and my mother always said that Quanah Parker was her first cousin,” Cozart said. After extensive research, she discovered she shared six generations of ancestors with the famous Comanche chief, but there was no direct blood relation. “My mother was very upset with me when she found out she was not directly related to the famous Indian,” Cozart said.

Cozart recently opened a genealogical research library on U.S. Hwy 287 at the intersection of Ave. I South in Chillicothe.

via For librarian, it’s all relative : Local : Times Record News.

By CAROLYN THOMPSON – 7 hours ago

ROCHESTER, N.Y. (AP) — Sorry, Paul Simon, Kodak is taking your Kodachrome away.

The Eastman Kodak Co. announced Monday it’s retiring its most senior film because of declining customer demand in an increasingly digital age.

The world’s first commercially successful color film, immortalized in song by Simon, spent 74 years in Kodak’s portfolio. It enjoyed its heyday in the 1950s and ’60s but in recent years has nudged closer to obscurity: Sales of Kodachrome are now just a fraction of 1 percent of the company’s total sales of still-picture films, and only one commercial lab in the world still processes it.

Those numbers and the unique materials needed to make it convinced Kodak to call its most recent manufacturing run the last, said Mary Jane Hellyar, the outgoing president of Kodak’s Film, Photofinishing and Entertainment Group.

“Kodachrome is particularly difficult (to retire) because it really has become kind of an icon,” Hellyar said.

The company now gets about 70 percent of its revenue from its digital business, but plans to stay in the film business “as far into the future as possible,” Hellyar said.

via The Associated Press: Sorry, Paul Simon, Kodak’s taking Kodachrome away.

History of Shelby County Alabama

By Bobby Joe Seales

Welcome to Shelby County, “The Heart of Dixie”. We’re glad you’re here taking a look at us, because we’re proud of our county and like to show it off. While visiting this site, should you have any questions, comments, or need any assistance that I may help you with, please e-mail me.

Shelby County is the geographic center of the state of Alabama. It is one of now seven counties comprising the Birmingham-Hoover Metropolitan Area. The others are Jefferson, Blount, and St. Clair counties and three new additions in June 2003 – Bibb, Chilton, and Walker. Shelby County is bounded by Jefferson and St. Clair counties to the north, by Talladega and Coosa counties to the east, and by Chilton and Bibb counties to the south and southwest.

Shelby County was created by an act of the Alabama Territorial General Assembly on 7 February 1818, from former Creek Indian territory ceded in the Treaty of Fort Jackson on 9 August 1814. The county was formed out of the northern portion of what was then Montgomery County. Originally, Shelby County was one of the largest counties in the state. However, the state legislature soon began carving up the area to create other counties, including St. Clair County, Jefferson, Talladega, and Chilton counties. The marker for the geographic center for the state of Alabama can be found on the steps of Main Hall at the University of Montevallo. The actual geographic center, however, is said to be located in the Richardson-Randall Cemetery, about 2 miles east of Montevallo.

The county was named for Isaac Shelby, a hero of the King’s Mountain Battle during the Revolutionary War. Also, he was the first governor of the state of Kentucky, and had refused election to a second term as governor in order to fight the Indian wars. The first courthouse was fashioned of logs, and was located at Shelbyville, long since deserted, however, believed to have been located within the modern-day city of Pelham. It was selected as the county seat in 1820 and the county’s first courthouse was built by Thomas Amis Rogers, Alabama’s first Secretary of State, who, along with his neighbor George Phillips, represented the county in the state’s first Constitutional Convention in 1819. Judge Thomas W. Smith was the first judge to preside in it. The Shelbyville courthouse, built at a cost of $53, was used until 1826, when the decision was made to move the courthouse and the county seat.

In 1826 the location of the courthouse was moved to an old school building in Columbia, located in the central part of Shelby County. However, an act of the Legislature changed its name to Columbiana on 13 January 1832, and the county seat was then permanently located at Columbiana.

via Shelby County History.

Notes

Otto I The Great King Of Germany was the first king to become Holy Roman Emperor. He became King of Germany in 936 and ruled all of Germany. In 951, he crossed the Alps and declared himself the king of Italy. He was forced to return to Germany when the other German princes began a series of revolts. At the same time the Slavs in Poland and Bohemia revolted, and the Magyars, or Hungarians, invaded Germany. Otto crushed the Magyars in the battle of the Lech River in 955. The Poles and Bohemians were forced to accept his rule. Otto was able to replace most of the rebellious German princes with members of his own family. The young king of Arles, or Burgundy, also had to accept his rule. Otto then turned his attention toward Italy. He married the widow of an earlier Italian king, and defeated a rival for the throne. In 961, Otto crossed the Alps in answer to an appeal from Pope John XII to put down an uprising in Rome. For this service, Otto was crowned in 962 emperor of what was later known as the Holy Roman Empire.

Source: ‘The World Book Encyclopedia’, 1968, p G150, O667.

via Otto I ‘The_Great’ Germany (0912 – 07 May 0973).