Images of 17th century Virginia locales

Here are some images which help us to visualize the surroundings of our Pope, Washington, Wright, and Haynie ancestors, in what is called the Northern Neck of Virginia.

There are two Park Service photos taken near Popes Creek, location of the George Washington Birthplace National Monument.  Popes Creek is named after our ancestor Nathaniel Pope, father of Anne Pope Washington.  (It looks big enough to have been called a river!)

The interior images are from one of the very few surviving 17th century Va. homes.  It's called Bacon's Castle, as some of the rebels congregated there in the 1670s; it was not owned by the Bacon family.

Best of all, perhaps, is the Yeocomico Church, because it was actually attended by our Wright ancestors in the 1600s and early 1700s.  I learned that the Yeocomico River or Creek is the dividing line between Northumberland and Westmoreland Counties, where all of these various ancestors of ours lived.

One more Washington-Haynie connection

In the 18th century there was a young girl named (Sarah) Sally Ball Haynie; she and her mother Elizabeth Haynie were related to George Washington's mother, the former Mary Ball, and fell on hard times.  Washington helped to provide for her, including leaving her $300 in his will, which was quite a large sum in 1799.

This young woman was undoubtedly a cousin to our Haynie forebears.

Here is a link to a transcribed letter of personal advice written by the retired President to Miss Haynie in 1798:

http://gwpapers.virginia.edu/documents/marriage/haynie.html

Washington surname

Historically, the name Washington came from Wessyngton, which in turn was the Norman French rendition of an earlier Middle English version of an Anglo-Saxon place name:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Washington_Old_Hall

George Washington kinship

This month was George Washington's 280th birthday, and I've learned recently that we are related to him on both sides of the family!

Our Wright ancestors (Haynie side) include Anne Washington, great aunt of the father of our country, who married Major Francis Wright in the 17th century, Westmoreland County, Virginia. Anne's father John Washington, great-grandfather of General George Washington, was the family member who acquired the land where Mount Vernon is located, south of Alexandria, Virginia. Lt. Col. John Washington (born circa 1632) served in the House of Burgesses for Westmoreland County, in the colonial capital of Jamestown; as did our ancestor Capt. John Haynie (b. circa 1624) of Northumberland County, just a few years earlier (1660s and 1650s, respectively). Their home counties are adjacent to each other along the Potomac River, with Northumberland County being situated closer to Chesapeake Bay.

Our Smith ancestors (Tillett side) include Elizabeth Warner and her husband John Lewis. Elizabeth was another of George Washington's great aunts, sister of his grandmother Mildred Warner. Mildred married Lawrence Washington, brother of the above Anne! (Mildred and Lawrence were the parents of Augustine Washington, who in turn - with his second wife Mary Ball - became the father of George.) The Warner-Lewis estate is called Warner Hall and is located in Gloucester County, Virginia.

So, all four of George Washington's paternal great-grandparents appear in our family tree: John Washington, Anne Pope (Washington), Augustine Warner, and Mildred Reade (Warner). Their graves have been preserved, in Westmoreland County and Gloucester County, respectively. The Washington burial site was incorporated into the George Washington Birthplace National Monument; while the graveyard at Warner Hall is maintained by the Association for the Preservation of Virginia Antiquities, or Preservation Virginia, as it's now called.

Elizabeth and Mildred Warner's father and their grandfather, both named Augustine Warner, served for many years in the colonial assembly and also on the royal Council. The elder Warner is said to have arrived in Virginia in 1628 at the age of seventeen. His son, having been educated in England, represented Gloucester County in the House of Burgesses and served as Speaker of the House in 1676 and 1677.

During Bacon's Rebellion (1676), which came about because of differences of opinion in how to handle conflicts with Indian tribes, Warner and other leaders of the Jamestown government temporarily evacuated the area. The rebel leader commandeered and looted the Warner home, for which Speaker Warner sought compensatory damages against William Byrd I, an associate of Bacon, as Nathaniel Bacon had suddenly died. The following year Warner was appointed to the King's Council, where he served until his rather premature death in 1681. The information concerning Warner's efforts to obtain compensation for damage to their home is found in the book Speakers and Clerks of the Virginia House of Burgesses 1643-1776.

The image of Colonel Augustine Warner (born 1642), attached here with that of his great-grandson President Washington (b. 1732), is the earliest portrait we have, to date, of any of our American ancestors!

In addition to the kinship with George Washington, the Warner and Lewis families also connect us genetically to Meriwether Lewis (Corps of Discovery), General Robert E. Lee, and even Queen Elizabeth II.

Historical anniversaries

This blog has been on hiatus for quite a while, but I don't want the year to close without noting a couple of important anniversaries which have been commemorated in 2011:

175 years since the conclusion of colonial Texas' rebellion against Mexico (1835-36), including the signing of the Texas Declaration of Independence, the tragic Alamo siege and the Goliad massacre, and the victorious Battle of San Jacinto. That series of events transpired only sixty years following the American Declaration of Independence and resulted in nearly a decade of independence for the Republic of Texas, which is yet a source of pride today. (The Texas Capitol building is actually taller than the U.S. Capitol, and the State has the right to fly its "lone star" flag at the same height as the "stars and stripes.")

150 years since the start of the Civil War (1861-65), which in the 19th century was known by other names such as the War Between the States, the War of Secession, the War of Northern Aggression, or the War for Southern Independence. For the first time, this year I was able to view Ken Burns' multi-part documentary film "The Civil War" in its entirety. It's hard to comprehend the massive effect this conflict, and its aftermath, had on our country.

2012 will mark the beginning of the bicentennial for the War of 1812 (1812-15).

Visited Austin, Bastrop, & LaGrange

In January I was able to make my first visit to Austin, Texas, and explore some of the Haynie family's 19th century Texas history. I've delayed posting this report because I haven't been able to upload my photos to a web album; here is a summary of the trip, with pictures to follow at a later date:

Drove up Congress Avenue, where in the 1800's Dr. Samuel Garner Haynie had an office and drugstore.

Explored the area near the State Capitol, to see the place where the Haynie-Cook House used to be. (It's mostly a parking lot now, sad to say.) Nearby is the imposing First Methodist Church, which was locked. I tried to peek through the front windows to see if Rev. John Haynie's picture was there, as the "founding father."

The Governor's Mansion was still so shrouded that almost nothing could be seen of it, due to restoration in progress after the disastrous fire. It is the oldest governor's mansion west of the Mississippi River, designed by Abner Cook during the same period that he built the Haynie-Cook House nearby: early 1850's.

Then I spent quite a while at Oakwood Cemetery, taking pictures of our great-great-grandparents' graves, Dr. Samuel and Mrs. Maria Haynie, and of others near them. I walked to the other end of the cemetery & found the grave of our ancestor, Elizabeth Brooks Haynie (wife of Rev. Haynie), in the Caldwell family's plot.

The next day I took quite a few pictures at St. David's Episcopal Church, which the younger Haynies helped to establish. After my trip I received wonderful assistance from the church's archivist, as far as old church records.

Then I made a fleeting attempt to go to the Republic of Texas museum north of town; unfortunately I was thwarted by confusing roads, rain, and traffic!

Next I headed to the Neill-Cochran House, which is virtually the only house museum representing Abner Cook's work...After I left there I found the little old building which now houses the U.T. Center for American History, also designed by Cook. The director of the Neill-Cochran House museum -- who turned out to be a Haynie, as well! -- had told me that when this (now university) building was constructed circa 1860, it was the home of the Institute for the Blind and Dr. Haynie was the superintendent. I believe our ancestors lived there, if only for a year or two. (Our great-grandfather Charles was five years old in 1860.)

By this time it was dark outside, so the building was closed...I discovered on line later that, after the Civil War, General Custer and his family lived in the same house --- as part of the military occupation of Texas!

On the third morning I headed toward Bastrop, stopping at the Haynie Chapel site in Garfield, another landmark honoring John Haynie's instrumental role in early Texas Methodism.

In Bastrop I ate lunch in the building which has our great-grandfather's name on the front, C. R. Haynie & Co. 1883. He must have operated a store there! Then I lingered in the Old Town Visitors Center, I think it's called, which used to be the bank and is very cute with the original teller windows. Eventually I drove around and looked at the fronts of some of the old houses, the Bastrop County courthouse, & the jail.

I especially wanted to find the house called the Luckett house, as C.R.'s sister Frances lived there with her family of sons and husband Dr. H. P. Luckett. It was also where, as I learned later in the year, our ancestor Hannah Maria Evans Haynie died, in 1898. [Historically the land was the location of the Bastrop Military Institute, which moved to Austin.]...I don't know yet where our grandfather Hiram's family resided, unless they lived above their store. His father Charles Raymond Haynie was the Bastrop County Treasurer, as well.

I visited the town's historical museum, where the staff showed me files which informed me who our great-grandfather's in-laws were, as they gave the young couple the lot upon which the Main Street store was built! There again, later I found more documentation on line about our Taylor great-great-grandparents. Campbell Taylor was an officer in the Republic of Texas Army and served in the Battle of San Jacinto, as did Charles Haynie's maternal grandfather Musgrove Evans.

Lastly in Bastrop was -- what else? visiting Fairview Cemetery. I hunted & hunted for our Haynie great-grandparents' graves, finally locating them when it was nearly dark.

During my stay in Fayette County, after exploring the courthouse area I tried to visit the place now called Brendan Manor -- a B & B -- formerly known as the Bradshaw-Killough House. It was owned for a few years by Rev. John Haynie toward the end of his life, circa late 1850's. Then the children and descendants of James Asbury Haynie (Sam's brother) lived in it for about 100 years....But apparently the owners didn't have any guests, as the house was locked.

On the morning of my departure I went to the LaGrange Cemetery and found Rev. John Haynie's grave, along with the aforementioned James Haynie's family.

Visited Tuskegee last year

A few days after Christmas last year, I made a half-day visit to Tuskegee, Alabama, home of the Campbell family. It sits on a sort of high ridge, between Montgomery and Auburn.

I took pictures of the large First Baptist Church on Main Street, built in the 1850s, where Ava Lucerne Campbell (Granny) got married in 1884 to David Graham Hill of Texas. I had planned to take the tour of The Oaks, Booker T. Washington's home, but the National Park Service had closed the house that day. I took pictures of the town square and Macon County courthouse; and I spent quite a while in the Tuskegee Cemetery photographing the graves of our ancestors and their relatives, which included Granny's parents, her paternal grandparents, and the Wright family. I didn't have time to visit the Tuskegee University campus, since I had a long drive ahead of me.

Early in January I visited our cousin Gloria in Louisiana. She has a painting which her father David Gatlin Hill (Uncle Dege) made, based upon memory, of the Campbells' home. Amazingly, the house in this photo caught my attention in Tuskegee, and its architecture is remarkably similar to the real Campbell home in the painting -- which reportedly burned down a long time ago.

Irish & other Celtic ancestors

For St. Patrick's Day, I thought I'd post a summary of ancestors we know of who emigrated from Ireland, Scotland, Wales, or Cornwall. When I went to double-check some of these "roots" last night, I found some information which was new to me about a couple of the families, so I'm a day late here! Although Haynie is said to be of English-Irish origin, our Haynie ancestors came to America from England, not Ireland.

The following are surnames coming from areas with persistent Celtic traditions. The Irish names actually represent Scotch-Irish (Scots-Irish) or English-Irish families, who had previously migrated to Ireland, probably during the Ulster Plantation.

See the Wikipedia article: Plantation of Ulster


Ireland:

Houston -- The mother of Lucindy Johnson Morgan (1827-1863) was Jennie or Virginia Houston, said to be a cousin of Sam Houston. Sam Houston's emigrant ancestor, according to a family tree in RootsWeb.Com, was John McClung Houston (1703-1754), who arrived in the colonies circa 1730. He is said to have been born in Antrim, Ulster, Northern Ireland. In earlier times, this surname was spelled differently, e.g. Houseson.

Johnson -- Jennie Houston, who was born in Virginia, married Patrick Johnson. Patrick Johnson was born in Ireland 1780, of English-Irish descent. Therefore, he emigrated after the U.S had become an independent nation. This couple had their children in Abbeville District, South Carolina, where they were neighbors to John C. Calhoun; then they moved to Talladega County, Alabama, and from Ala. they moved to Texas. This was in the late 1840s after Texas joined the Union; being relatives of Sam Houston may have had something to do with their decision to go there!

Johnson -- Elizabeth Frey (b. 1812), mother of Bascom Covington, was the daughter of Mary Johnson (Frey). Mary's father, according to online information, was Henry Johnson, who was born 1738 in Antrim, Northern Ireland. He married in Pennsylvania and then served in the Revolutionary War; so he had emigrated at quite a young age, perhaps as a child. This Johnson couple ended up in Robertson County, Tennessee...Family lore says that Elizabeth Frey's mother was related to Reconstruction-era President Andrew Johnson, but to date I've not been able to find data supporting this kinship.

[Patrick Johnson and Henry Johnson may have been related to each other, back in Ireland. Their descendants Ione Morgan and Bascom Covington, respectively, were joined in marriage in 1890, in Callahan County, Texas.]


Scotland:

Campbell -- George W. Campbell (1828-1905)'s grandfather was a Scotsman who lived in Mecklenburg County, North Carolina (vicinity of present-day Charlotte), and served in the Revolutionary War (1775-1783). As of yet, we know nothing else of this Campbell family's American beginnings; the descendants moved from N.C. to eastern Georgia and from Ga. to Macon County, Alabama.

Smith --The immigrant ancestor of both Anne W. Smith (d. 1871) & her husband-cousin Benjamin M. Smith (d. 1877), of North Carolina & then Arkansas, was Alexander Smith, a Scotsman who died 1696 in Virginia. Col. Samuel Smith, descendant of Alexander, was a Revolutionary War officer in N.C. Smith descendants also fought for the Confederacy during the Civil War (1861-65), although not in our direct ancestral line.


Wales:

Evans -- The maternal grandmother of H. A. "Gus" Tillett was Pamela Evans (Wyche), of Virginia and North Carolina. Pamela's father was William Evans, who was born circa 1756, moved to Va., and served as an officer in the Revolution. William's father was Lewis Evans, of the Welsh Quakers in southeastern Pennsylvania, Bucks & Chester Counties.

Evans -- Samuel Haynie's wife was Hannah Maria Evans (Haynie); I posted her obituary recently on this blog. Although she was born in upstate New York, her paternal ancestry, too, was of the Welsh Quaker Evanses of southeast Pa. In fact, their line of descent has been traced back to the 14th century & earlier. Her immigrant ancestor was Thomas Evans (1651-1738), who is said to have arrived in 1698, or when he was in his late 40s. Thomas's great-grandson Samuel B. Evans was an officer during the Revolution, and Samuel's son & grandsons participated in the Texas Revolution (1836), with one dying in the Alamo.

[Although Lewis Evans was very likely related to Thomas Evans' family, so far I haven't found a direct connection. Their respective descendants were united with our own parents' marriage in 1948.]

Morgan -- Our Morgan ancestors descended from Col. Haynes Morgan, head of the Colonial Virginia Militia for part of the Revolutionary War. His exact ancestry hasn't been traced, but he is said to have been born in Wales circa 1742 & there is at least a tentative link to Morgans in Pa., although Haynes Morgan lived in Virginia. Many of the Colonel's great-grandsons served in the Confederate Army, some giving their lives for that cause; the Civil War veterans are not in our direct line because our own great-grandparents were young children in the 1860s.

The large website on which I found the Pennsylvania Welsh Quakers' ancestry information (URL updated 10/10/2016) is:

Gwynedd Friends Meeting Genealogy


Cornwall:

Blewett -- Bascom Covington's paternal grandmother was Winifred Covington, born in 1780s Richmond County, North Carolina. Her mother was Susannah Blewett; Susannah's father was William Blewett, who had several royal land grants in the area, near the Pee Dee River bordering South Carolina. William Blewett was born 1706 in Cornwall and came to the colonies as a child. The name is said to have probably originated in France, arriving in England at the time of the Norman Conquest.

Tillett? -- It strikes me that our other family name ending in "-ett" may have a similar historical path. It is said to have been a French Huguenot name, a group which was discriminated against in Catholic France. The Tilletts apparently migrated to England & lived there for some period of time before settling in colonial North Carolina, along the coast.

Visited Caldwell Parish, La.

On January 12th I visited Caldwell Parish for the first time, where Mary Ione Morgan, of our maternal line, grew up in the 1860s and 1870s. This is in northern Louisiana, south of Monroe.

I stopped there while en route to Texas, having lunch in the parish seat of Columbia -- on the Ouachita River, which winds down from Arkansas. In the afternoon I set off to find a remote cemetery in an area called Hickory Springs. After going the farthest I've ever driven alone on unpaved roads, I found the old wooden country church and the graves of our great-great grandparents Susan Lucinda Johnson Morgan and Haynes Lawrence Morgan.

Here is the link to the pictures I took there:

http://picasaweb.google.com/floridasand/2010Jan12?feat=directlink

Letter from a Virginia cousin to Ione Morgan in Louisiana

Marion Smyth County Va April 2 1876

My dear Cousin,

I thought that you owed me a letter but Lizzie says not. I ask your pardon for not answering your letter sooner. My dear cousin, Lizzie, told me of your troubles. I do sincerely sympathize with you, but we all have our trials and I think love scrapes are by far the most heart-breaking. I have had some experiances in such things myself, but the question is, ought we give way to our feelings? Ought not we willingly submit to our father's will? For nothing he does is to harm his children; every thing is for the best. Do you Cousin Onie, think it right to harbor revenge, malice, and hatred in your heart toward those who prevented your union with him you loved? Think how forgiving Jesus was and he everywhere admonishes us to do the same, you may some day have cause to bless them for that interference, when you have become happy [with] the love of another, then you will look back, and wonder how you ever could have loved any but your husband.

I will give you a little of my experiance about three years ago I had a good beau as smart as he could be and well educated, he "courted me." I knew that the family would never consent for me to marry him for though his morrals were good, yet his family was not of the same circle [as] mine and I myself thought that if I could not marry my equal I would live an old maid so "I declined." But cousin, it was a terrible struggle for me to make myself believe I did not love him and still worse to tell him so and every one now tells me I love him and sometimes I think I do but fortunately he has gone to California, so I live on in hope that I may yet like someone else better. I let the other boys wait on me and try to forget my troubles and I advise you to do the same for [it's] a splendid Antidote.

I fear cousin you think I ought not to write to you about this matter. I hope you will not be offended for I assure that none but the best intentions were exercised. Look above for help in this your great distress and God will enable you to stand all of the afflictions sent for your good. Again I ask you not to think hard of what I have said.

Marion is as dull as usual. We see nothing but books and boys quite a contrast. You will think yes but both alike are so common as to be considered monotinous by most of us no doubt. But they would become very indignant were they to know I said so, but it is true for all that. It is only about eight weeks until school is out and I shall be very glad, for I feel as though I could rest a while and feel invigorated very much. I only wish you could come to school here. I know you would enjoy it very much, the girls are all so gay happy and bright that it matters not who comes they must of necessity partake of the same spirit of mirth and glee to a greater or less extent. We snowball which is delightful fun especially with the boys which is quite seldom but that makes it all the better, for "variety is the spice of life."

I hope you will answer my letter very soon. I also hope you will try to be cheerful and Happy that is the best remedy for people in love. I have written this in such a hurry I hope if you should find mistakes either in orthography or in grammar you will excuse. Expecting to hear very soon I remain as ever your true and sympathizing Cousin

Minnie B. Sexton

This is my whole name Bettie Manerva, Sexton

Campbells of Tuskegee

[This is a replacement for an item originally posted on January 30, 2009.  The photos of Mr. and Mrs. Campbell are slightly improved.]

Our ancestor George W. Campbell was a merchant and banker in Tuskegee, Alabama, in its earliest days.  His greatest contribution to history was his leadership role in the founding and support of the Tuskegee Institute from 1881 until his death in 1905, including providing friendship and counsel to its leader, Booker T. Washington.

Here is a quotation from the student newspaper when George Washington Campbell passed away, which in turn is made up of two quotations from 'Principal' Booker Taliaferro Washington:

Although he made no pretensions to public speaking, yet he was continually making very eloquent speeches down at the Macon County Bank, of which he was president.  During the twenty-four years of the school's existence Mr. Campbell has been the only President of the Board of Trustees.  He was a southerner of southerners, whole-souled, generous, and as deeply interested in the success of the Tuskegee work as any one we can name.

George and Eliza Jane Campbell raised eight children:
 
John Walter Campbell
Macy Elizabeth Campbell
Pauline B. Campbell
Ava Lucerne Campbell
Moses Gatlin Campbell
George Lee Campbell
William Wright Campbell
Flora Virginia Campbell

Obituary of Hannah Maria Evans Haynie

The Save Austin's Cemeteries organization is preparing to give a tour of Oakwood Cemetery, which will feature early Austin residents including Dr. and Mrs. Samuel G. Haynie.  Their historian happened to find the obituary of our great-great grandmother and sent me a copy.

The following was published 112 years ago today in the Austin Daily Statesman, on February 12, 1898, a Saturday.  I've corrected only the error in her initials; the newspaper printed N.M. instead of H.M.  (In the 19th century, women didn't use their maiden name as a middle name.)

2017 NOTE: Please refer to the comments I posted below, as to other discrepancies.

The town in upstate New York where she was born is called Evans Mills, possibly founded by her family; the Wikipedia entry about it states that for a brief time in the middle of the 1800s it was called Evansville.

SAD NEWS.
                    
Mrs. H. M. Haynie Is Dead -- The Funeral Services This Morning.

Thursday night Mrs. H.M. Haynie died at the residence of her son-in-law, Dr. Luckett, in Bastrop.  The remains were brought to this city yesterday and the funeral services will be conducted from St. David's church this morning at 10 o'clock.  Mrs. Haynie is well known among the older residents of this city, among whom she had lived so long and enjoyed such a wide circle of friends.  She was born in Evansville, N. Y., in 1817, and moved to this state in 1843, locating in Washington county, but in 1850 she came to Austin when her husband moved here.  She had two brothers who were closely connected with the early history of Texas, one dying on the battlefield with Fannin and the other going down in the defeat of the Alamo.  Her maiden name was Evans.  Four children survive her, viz:  Mrs. Orlando Caldwell, Mrs. Carpenter, Mrs. Dr. Luckett and another daughter residing in New York.  There are also two sons, Mr. Tom Haynie of Lampasas and Mr. Charles Haynie of Bastrop.

The news of Mrs. Haynie's death, while not unexpected to her many Austin friends, will be received with deep regret, and the sympathy of all is tendered the sorrowing relatives.

St. David's is the Episcopal Church in downtown Austin.  I visited the church recently and have since learned from their archivist that this ancestor of ours was one of the four original members, in the 1840s.

I imagine that her casket was brought from Bastrop to Austin by train, presumably accompanied by family members.  Perhaps our grandfather, age seven, was in attendance at the funeral of his grandmother.

Found the missing data about the Gatlin family

Tonight I stumbled upon someone with great Gatlin info on RootsWeb.  Macy Gatlin (Campbell)'s father, or G.W. Campbell's maternal grandfather, was Moses Allen Gatlin, born a twin in 1782 with the infant brother dying.  He apparently served in the War of 1812.  Macy G. Campbell's mother was named Chloe Rowe (Gatlin).

Moses surely was a popular name, with Macy's husband being Moses Campbell, and her daughter-in-law Eliza Jane Wright having a brother Moses Wright. --- Oh, and I just noticed that Macy married a man of her father's age, too, if the birth year for Moses Campbell of 1781 is correct!  Maybe there was a shortage of young men when the War of 1812 was over in 1815.  She was born in 1800 in Warren County, Ga., and lived until 1888, or until at least three years after Granny got married. 

This source also shows the next generation back was Jesse Gatlin, who is said to have served in the Revolutionary War.  This family seems to have had the same migration pattern as the Campbells: N.C. to Ga., then later to Ala.

If you look at the link below, "Mrs. McDuffie" refers to the author of a book cited, The Gatlin Family in America.

If you click on Pedigree, you'll find they trace the line back to about 1500 in Sussex, England, when the name was Gatland.

Another source had made me think that Macy's father was named Jeptha, but this was her brother's name.

http://wc.rootsweb.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/igm.cgi?op=GET&db=klineclan&id=I8765

A Revolutionary War soldier in the Walker family

Several months ago I bought a rare book called The Walker Heritage, which I found referenced on line when looking for info on the Wrights, Granny's mother's family.  John Walker was a teenager when he served in the Revolutionary War, and his family lived in Maryland.  After the war he moved to Lincoln County, Georgia, which is north of Augusta.  He was married three times, as the first two wives died.  He apparently was a successful planter and also a Baptist minister, and he is reputed to have served in the State legislature just after the turn of the 19th century.  The child of the second marriage was Elizabeth Walker (Wright), maternal grandmother of Ava Lucerne Campbell Hill ("Granny").

Anyway, John Walker moved his third (and extended) family from Lincoln Co. to Walton Co., Georgia.  He died soon thereafter, circa 1836 --- his will is very interesting reading ---but the Walker descendants evidently prospered there for generations, and our grandmother had a third cousin among them who was Governor in the 1920's.

What isn't clear yet is whether the Wright family ever lived in Walton County.  The material I'd found before implied that after his wife died, John Wright -- who also served in the Georgia statehouse -- and his children, including Granny's mother Eliza Jane who was about 13 years old, moved to Alabama directly from Lincoln County, in the late 1840's.  The will in the book gave a piece of land to the Wrights, but it doesn't say which county the parcel was in.  At any rate, I suspect Wright probably sold their Georgia holdings when they made the move to the Tuskegee area.

Haynie-Cook House

Here is a larger image of the Haynie-Cook House, compared to the thumbnail-size one I previously posted to the blog.  This is a scan of a print I purchased from the Austin History Center.

Aurora Gardens

Earlier this year, I was wondering where the name Aurora Gardens came from, for the first subdivision we lived in, in New Orleans.

It turns out there was an Aurora Plantation, established in 1742.  The house was probably among those quaint old homes we sometimes drove past on the road next to the levee, and my guess is that the very land on which the subdivision was laid out may have once been part of the plantation's cultivated fields.

Shared ancient & colonial roots of Texas & Louisiana

Although not directly related to our family's history, here are two links which show the earliest colonial connections between Louisiana and Texas.

Natchitoches, La., and Nacogdoches, Tx., were ancient native American settlements, connected by a trail which would later become part of El Camino Real (the Royal Road), part of a network of roads leading to and from Spanish colonial Mexico.

The Spanish roads later defined the part of Texas which would be settled by Anglo-Americans. Bastrop, where our grandfather was born, was located on the old San Antonio Road where it crossed the Colorado River.

Natchitoches is the oldest permanent settlement in the Louisiana Purchase territory, as it was founded in 1714 by the French, after the founding of Mobile and before New Orleans was established.

According to the web page, the early French colonists needed a trade link to the western Spanish colonies. Hm, I wonder what the issues were around trading with the Spanish colonists in Florida at the time; perhaps the west Fla. settlements were too isolated. (Mobile is much closer to Pensacola than it is to northwest La.!)

As I remember, Natchitoches is pronounced "NACK-i-dish" and Nacogdoches is pronounced "NACK-a-DOE-chez."

http://www.elcaminorealtx.com/

http://www.natchitochestour.com/

Relative who died at the Alamo

I discovered recently that our grandfather Hiram had a great uncle who died in the Battle of the Alamo. (See link below.) He was Sam Evans, a brother of our ancestor Hannah Maria Evans, wife of Samuel G. Haynie. The fellow was 24 years old, and subsequently his father Musgrove Evans, who had moved to Texas with his children after his wife died, joined the army and fought for the Republic of Texas. I read this in another article, all of them sent to me by the man who put the Evans genealogy on line. There was another fairly young brother who was killed on the Chisholm Trail -- by bandits, I think.

Learning about this family particularly moves me because they were based in Pennsylvania, then upstate New York, and then Michigan. Here I had been thinking they were the only bona fide "Yankees" in our family tree! As Alexis de Tocqueville observed, there were many men on the move in the U.S. in the 1800's. In other words, you can't pigeonhole them by region, at least not the ones who lived their lives during that restless century.

Sam Evans was the namesake and grandson of "General" or Major Samuel Evans of the Revolutionary War period. On our mother's side of the family we have a Lt. William Evans ancestor from the Revolutionary period; in all likelihood these families were related --- because they were originally from Wales, were concentrated in two Pa. counties, and were all Quakers back in the day.

The Tillett book refers to an 1816 letter written by William Evans which indicated that he was very bothered by the institution of slavery. Said he wanted to move to Ohio, but it was "too late" for him. (He had moved from Pa. to Va.) --- His son-in-law James Wyche went to Ohio & looked things over, but decided that the free blacks were in worse condition than the slaves...

The following URL has been updated, as of 10/10/2016:

Samuel Brown Evans in the Handbook of Texas

Our Wyche great-great-great grandparents

Here are Gus Tillett's maternal grandparents, Pamela Evans Wyche (1789-1869) and James Wyche (1785-1845). These pictures are apparently part of the special collection at the Public Library of Charlotte-Mecklenburg in N.C.; they are posted on the Wyche family website mentioned earlier.

This couple's married life was divided between Brunswick County, Virginia, and Granville County, North Carolina. Most of their children were born in Va.

Our Smith great-great-great grandparents

These images are also from the Smith book. They are Mary's maternal grandparents: Frances "Fanny" Martin Smith (1799-1862) and Samuel H. Smith (1795-1853). Fanny is at a disadvantage here next to such a young image of her husband!

This couple lived in Wake County, North Carolina, for a while, later moving to Hardeman County, Tennessee, and finally to Dallas County, Arkansas. They had five children of their own, and later they reportedly helped raise the five children of Sam's sister Mary "Polly" Crisp after she died.