Everything but the kitchen sink.

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.

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

Advertisement

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.

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.

Re: George Silvers,MD. NC.b late 1700

Posted by: Cindy Ray Peters Date: February 28, 1999 at 11:57:35

In Reply to: Re: George Silvers,MD. NC.b late 1700 by Phil Rutledge of 352

Hi Phil,

I am sorry ,I was incorrect about My Rachel being Charlies sister. She was his fathers Jacob sister.There were 12 of them, I have there names if you want them.

According to the Toe River Valley Heritage Vol 1 &2.

Your Jacob was a brother of my grandmother Rachel m Edward Wilson. There father was George J. Silvers Jr. b 10-28-1753 Fredrick Co. Md. m Nancy Ann Griffith b 1766, they had 12 kids.

George Jr. father was George Silver Sr. (Jurg Silbers) b 2-1731 Germany m Sissy Market (Elizabeth Schmieden)Germany.

Jacob married Elizabeth Wilson they had 1 child Charles 10-3-1812 Elizabeth died during child birth. Jacob married Nancy Reed and they had 12 children.

I have a good story.

Jacob was a farmer and a Babtist min. in the Kona area for 50 years. Because he couldn’t read or write. His wife Nancy Reed would read the bible to him and he would memorize the scripture he used in his sermon.

He married Nancy on 10-6-1814 in Buncombe Co. Nc. She was the daughter of Samuel Reed.

They are buried at Silver Family Cem. in Kona, Nc.

Hope this helps!

Cindy Ray Peters

via Re: George Silvers,MD. NC.b late 1700.

Buncombe County marriages is an on-going project of Old Buncombe County Genalogical Society. The OBCGS Marriage Records presented here are those for which surname files have NOT been made.

via wedindx.htm.

Anniston Councilman Ben Little is warning local banks and real estate companies that old documents show the Creek Indian tribe may have claim to McClellan property, but his own claim may not hold up.
The mapping department in the Calhoun County Revenue Commissioner’s Office says the documents don’t support Little’s assertions.
In fact, the documents don’t even refer to land at McClellan. The land described in the documents is in Jacksonville and includes much of the Jacksonville State University campus.
Little said Monday he’d been distributing the material to local real estate firms and banks to discourage them from investing in projects at the former military post.
“The intent is to inform them, the bankers, the lending institutions,” Little said. “… I would not move forward in spending another dime until this thing is cleared up.”
Little’s actions are his latest attempt to call into question the control of McClellan. He, along with Councilman Herbert Palmore and former Councilman Stan Bennett, have worked against state legislation that would recognize the McClellan Development Authority.
McClellan officials say they are not worried about Little’s claims. Little, for his part, said he is not worried about the contradictory information from the mapping office, saying he believes the tribe does have claim to some McClellan property. He offered no proof of this, however, when asked for it Monday.
Little obtained the records he is circulating from the Calhoun County Probate Office. They include a document filed by the U.S. Department of the Interior’s Bureau of Land Management in 2003. The document contains a 1912 federal law relinquishing the government’s claims to lands in Alabama reserved earlier for the Creek tribe and its members. Little also included another document filed in the probate office in 2004. That document, dated 1836, refers to property that mapping department officials say is in Jacksonville.
Probate officials did not know why the documents were filed in recent years.
The second document references 29 sections of property, apparently part of a grant of land made to the tribe and to individual members in an 1832 treaty.
A section is equal to 640 acres. The one section described specifically in the document encompasses the northwest quarter of the city of Jacksonville. The mapping department said the document makes no reference to any land at McClellan….

via Little claims Creeks have claim to McClellan | AnnistonStar.com.
- – - – - -
Strange twist in the Anniston-McClellan reuse struggle…

– Cathy

Descendants of Rev. William Speer (1652-?) of Aryshire, Scotland

Entries: 6801 Updated: Wed Jan 10 03:15:49 2001 Contact: Ed Speer Home Page: William Speer Family

compiled 9 Jan 2001 by Wade Edward Speer 34 Clear Creek Road, Marion, NC 28752-9423

# ID: I6410

# Name: Henry Boughton Teague

# Sex: M

# Death: 1999

Father: Henry Crawford Teague b: 1882

Mother: Mary Martha Elizabeth Talitha Cumie Speer b: 1887

Marriage 1 Living Goodman

via RootsWeb’s WorldConnect Project: Descendants of Rev. William Speer (1652-?) of Aryshire, Scotland.

- – - – - -

Some of Randy Owen’s maternal ancestors.

– Cathy Abernathy

weavercat@gmail.com

# ID: I303

# Name: Malsie Ora AYRES

# Sex: F

# Birth: 16 NOV 1893 in Lebanon, I.

# Death: 25 NOV 1984 in Probably Johnston County, Oklahoma

Father: Holland Holly AYRES

Mother: Isabelle Belle BURNETT

Marriage 1 Elmer Frances BAKER b: 11 DEC 1885 in Round Top, Fayette County, Texas

* Married: 27 NOV 1912 in Probably Oklahoma

Children

1. Has No Children Emily Elizabeth BAKER b: 20 SEP 1913 in Oklahoma

2. Has Children Neva L. “NEVALINE”BAKER b: ABT 1921 in Oklahoma

3. Has Children Franklin L. “Junior Frank” BAKER b: ABT 1922 in Oklahoma

4. Has Children Evan L. “Eyvan LaFerren” Baker CASEY b: ABT 1929 in Oklahoma

via RootsWeb’s WorldConnect Project: Silas Wood-Hila Petty-John Holmes Family.