Author: Scott Williams
-
Alfred Bunn Joyner
The departure of the pioneers of the county deserves more than passing notice. While at the Genealogy Room at the Brownsville Library recently, I ran across an obituary of my third great-grandfather, Alfred Bunn Joyner. It provides some great information on several families in my tree. Alfred’s father, Littleton Bunn Joyner (1782-1852), was born in…
-
Thomas Joyner of Bere Regis
I’ve been researching my Joyner family for the last few weeks and am getting close to having enough confidence in the information to upload more of it to my website. One ancestor in particular is making me want to plan a trip to England. My father, Bob Williams, and grandfather Lloyd “Bo” Williams My grandfather…
-
1877 Haywood County Map
Today I finished uploading the information I have been able to locate so far on the Watridge family. The 1877 Haywood County map that hangs on the wall in our dining room, currently behind the Christmas tree, was especially helpful while I was working on this branch of the family. In this close-up of District…
-
The Texas Castellaws
The internet has changed genealogy in one important way. It allows people who care about their ancestors to find one another and share photographs, documents, stories and small pieces of family history that might otherwise be lost. A recently discovered cousin, Lynn Graves of Texas, shared a great photograph of our mutual ancestors, the family…
-
Joseph S. Cobb and Pocahontas
Since this is Thanksgiving, it seems fitting to mention the research I’ve been doing on my possible ninth great-grandfather, Joseph S. Cobb (1588-1654). He arrived in Virginia in 1613 on the Treasurer, seven years before the Pilgrims reached Plymouth in 1620. As I have worked my way through the Cobb family, I have been struck…
-
George Phenney Search in Nassau
When I first came across George Phenney, it was because of my research on Penelope Johnston, whom I suspected was my seventh great-grandmother. Penelope’s third husband was George Phenney, who served as colonial governor of the Bahama Islands before marrying her. After digging further, the family connection grew less certain. Still, when I found myself…
-
Castellaw Family Reunion
Gathering at Holly Grove Baptist Church A Castellaw Family Reunion was held this past weekend at Holly Grove Baptist Church in Haywood County, Tennessee. It was a fun time as descendants of Thomas Jefferson Castellaw Jr. (1841–1879), and Nancy Marianna Johnson Castellaw (1844-1921) gathered with descendants of their son and daughter-in-law, Robert Edward “Bob” Castellaw…
-
John Dawson Castellaw of Bertie County, North Carolina
From Possibility to Proof For a while, I thought I had made a remarkable discovery about the ancestry of my fourth great-grandfather, John Dawson Castellaw of Bertie County, North Carolina, and later Haywood County, Tennessee. Like many amatuer family historians, I had followed a trail that seemed to connect him to a prominent colonial Virginia…
-
Looking for George Williams
I have been trying to learn more about George Williams, my fourth great-grandfather, and recently I got a little more help from Lynn, who knows a lot about the old churches of Bertie County, North Carolina. She gave me some additional clues about where George may have come from before he turned up in West…
-
Dr. William Beanes and The Star-Spangled Banner
While Dr. William Beanes is not a direct ancestor of mine, he was closely connected to the Marbury family and is now one of those people I will think about every time I hear “The Star-Spangled Banner.” Leonard Marbury was my sixth great-grandfather. He had a brother named Luke Marbury Sr. Luke Sr.’s son, also…