Category: Williams Family
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George Williams of Bertie County and the Battle of Stono Ferry
Photo: A British map of Stono Ferry referencing the 1779 battle. Source: South Carolina Battleground Preservation Trust / As I blogged a few days ago, I have been trying to learn more about a George Williams who served in the North Carolina militia during the American Revolution. If further research prooves the connection, he would…
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Following my Williams Line Back to Bertie County, North Carolina
Photo of four generations: From left: Will, Scott, Bo and Bob Williams For years, I have been able to trace many of my ancestral lines back 10 or more generations. But my Williams line, the one that gave me my last name, has stopped at my fourth great-grandfather, George S. “Brother George” Williams (1797–1852). George…
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Maggie Williams Sullivan: A Haywood County Tragedy
Maggie Williams Sullivan (1881-1921) was my first cousin, three times removed. Her father, Edward Williams (1853-1893), and my second great-grandfather, George D. Williams (1846-1919), were brothers. Her story shines a light on just how powerless many women were against abuse in the era in which she lived. I knew a little about her tragic life…
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Sister C. A. Williams Is Gone
Photo: D. G. Beers Co. of Philadelphia 1877 map of Haywood County, Tennessee showing the location of Catherine A. Williams homeSource / “Sister C. A. Williams is Gone.” That was the first sentence of my third great-grandmother’s obituary, written by John Charles Warren Cobb (1830-1914) and W.T. Morris (1842-1924) as it appeared in the Zion…
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George Williams Brick Wall
Holly Grove Baptist Church, pictured around 1913 is located in Bertie County about seven miles south of Powellsville on the east side of US Highway 13. It was organized in 1804 as Outlaw’s Chapel and was named for Ralph Outlaw. During the early 1820s the name was changed to Holly Grove. / While I have…
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Red Wallet Photo Gallery
During the holidays, I was looking through boxes of old photos at my parents’ house when I came across an old red wallet crammed full of small Polaroids taken from the mid- to late 1960s. They feature me, the little boy in the photos, and my family as we lived and played more than 50…
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Finding Castellaws and Cobbs at the National Archives
Since moving to Washington, D.C., a research trip to the National Archives has been near the top of my list. A recent Saturday morning with nothing planned gave me the chance to check it out. I had time that day for only a few quick searches in the Civil War database, but in a matter…
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The Seeds of my Fascination with Genealogy
I recently found more really old family photos, thanks to my 12-year-old self and my grandmother, Elizabeth Castellaw Williams (1915-1998). I got my first taste of genealogy from “Granny,” as we called her, one summer when I was about 12. I was spending a week with my grandparents near the Holly Grove community in Haywood…
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Maggie Williams Sullivan
Photo: Recreation of photo of Maggie and Ellis Sullivan A few days ago, I wrote about Ancestry.com making a new batch of death certifcates available. One of them revealed more about my second-great grandfather being buiried in a field that was once called the Williams Family Cemetery. The other person I wrote was likely buried…
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Williams Family Cemetery Found
Photo: Milton Booth near what is left of the Williams Family Cemetery Since I first began researching my ancestry, I have tried to find the graves of my second great-grandparents, George D. Williams (1846-1919) and Martha Jane Watridge Williams (1852-1888). For years, family stories pointed me toward one place. Now, thanks to a Haywood County…