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Here you’ll find my musings on things I enjoy including history and genealogy. Some of these posts are fresh. Others have been dusted off, sharpened up, fact checked, copy edited and given a second life. Of course, if you have more information about any of those mentioned in these posts, or especially photos, email me at [email protected].
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The Man Named Vivian Married to the Woman Named Joseph
I recently attended a family reunion of my maternal grandmother’s family, the Brantleys. Joining us this year was a branch of the Brantley family we had never met. That particular branch descended from a couple who has always stood out for me because of their names. Vivian, the husband was married to a woman named…
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Cemetery Walk in Denmark, Tennessee
Last weekend I was in Amsterdam. This weekend I was in Denmark. Denmark, Tennessee, that is. Denmark is in Madison County, just north of Haywood County. I didn’t know much about it before this visit, but I quickly learned it is a historically significant small town with a strong commitment to preserving the history of…
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Bridgeman Joyner and Thomas Joyner Jr. and Bacon’s Rebellion
I was in Amsterdam last week and stumbled upon the “Occupy” protest in front of the Euronext stock exchange building. Regardless of a person’s political or social opinions, there is something exciting about being present at an event you know will someday be part of history. There was an intense energy in the crowd, but…
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B. F. Marbury and Mary, His Wife
On my list of favorite headstones is one in Zion Baptist Church Cemetery in Haywood County, Tennessee. Until this week, I thought it marked the graves of my third great-grandparents, Benjamin Franklin Marbury (1849-1884) and his wife, Margaret “Maggie” Yelverton Marbury (1853-1884). The problem there is the name. While working on the Yelverton line, I…
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An Old Photo and the Story of Holly Grove Baptist Church
I found this photo of a group of children and adults at Holly Grove Baptist Church in Haywood County, Tennessee, a few weeks ago at my parents’ house. It appears to date to the early 1940s. The people in the photo are hard to identify, but I am fairly certain my grandmother, Elizabeth Castellaw Williams…
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Abner and Irene Mann’s Stew Recipe
Photo: Abner “Bear” and Irene Mann / The blog post on Haywood County stew a few weeks ago generated a lot of messages and emails. One of my favorites came from my cousin Sandra, whose grandmother, Velma Irene Castellaw Mann (1904-1991), was a sister of my grandmother, Elizabeth Castellaw Williams (1915-1998). You assume the grandchildren…
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42 Annual Lovelace Family Reunion
Every third Sunday in September, the descendants of James Luther “Jim” Lovelace (1885-1968) and Ruby Fowler Lovelace (1887-1952) gather for the Lovelace Family Reunion that has been going on for more than 40 years. The reunion now takes place at the home of my great-aunt Carolyn Lovelace. She and my great-aunt Marie Lovelace, who is…
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Lillie Overton Lovelace at Lakeland, 1962
Joe Lovelace of Texarkana, Arkansas, sent me a batch of great family photos this week. Joe’s grandfather, William Wilbert “Will” Lovelace (1883-1943), and my great-grandfather, James Luther “Jim” Lovelace (1885-1968), were brothers. Lillie Overton Lovelace, 1962 My favorite photo shows Will’s wife, Lillie L. Overton Lovelace (1883-1979), at Lakeland on July 8, 1962. Lakeland opened…
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Finding Aunt Helen Shirley
Photo: Aunt Helen Shirley Joan, the relative who sent me the photographs of my third great-grandparents, Thomas A. Lovelace (1812-1876) and Quincy A. Shirley Lovelace (1828-1898), recently sent another photo. This one is of a woman her mother always called “Aunt Helen Shirley.” Joan’s mother had given the photograph to Joan’s daughter, along with a…
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New Cobb and Lovelace Photos
I recently wrote about the photos of my third-great-grandparents that Diane Lyle sent me. She also sent photos of several relatives who sit a little farther out on the branches of my family tree. I had already included many of them in my ancestry charts, but photographs put faces with the names. I think when…
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