Hey There Delila: Mapping An Armuchee Valley Matriarch [Part 3]

Nancy Brown tombstone, Old Bethlehem Cemetery, Chattooga County, Georgia
Tombstone of Nancy Brown in Old Bethlehem Cemetery, Chattooga County, Georgia.

Delila Brown Ward has been the focus of two recent posts here at Jordan’s Journey. This will be the third and final piece on Delila.

I’ll end this series by talking about Delila’s beginnings. She was born to William Brown and Nancy Pruitt in Spartanburg County, South Carolina. According to the 1850 census, William Brown hailed from Maryland. They are counted in Union County, South Carolina in 1820, 1830, 1840, and 1850. According to an article by Evelyn Morgan Shahan (writing as Mrs. Maxwell Shahan), the Browns relocated to northwest Georgia in about 1853. This is probably the same time Delila (already married and with a family of her own) also moved to the Armuchee Valley area. In Georgia, William Brown ran a dry goods store (where it was located, I do not know–this is a detail I would love to discover). As the owner of numerous slaves, he no doubt ran a farm as well (Walker 406; Ancesetry.com 1820, 1830, 1840, 1850).

William did not live in Georgia for very long. He died on 2 Jul 1858 in Chattooga County. His wife Nancy survived a number of years longer and lived with her daughter Delila in East Armuchee (Ancestry.com 1860, 1870).

Read More

Hey There Delila: Mapping An Armuchee Valley Matriarch [Part 2]

Portrait of Delila Brown Ward (1825-1903). Collection of Evelyn Morgan Shahan, courtesy Judy Blackstock.

Last week I talked about Villanow and Subligna as the scene of my family tale going back many generations. Delila Brown Ward is one example among many of those deeply rooted connections. Let’s look a little closer at Delila to show how even a single ancestor can take you down many interesting paths.

Delila Brown married Alfred C. Ward (son of Absalom Ward of Union County, South Carolina). Delila and Alfred’s son Andrew Clement Ward is my 3rd great-grandfather. Andrew married Martha Ann Keown, my 3rd great-grandmother, connecting me to the well-known Keown family of Armuchee Valley (and beyond).

It’s important to look beyond your direct line ancestors too, though. Exploring the many branches and stems can lead to new and interesting connections. In the case of Delila, two of her other children married into the Puryear family. Some of Delila’s grandchildren married into the Shahan, Morgan, and Hunt families.

But that’s still not the end! Delila leads the way to yet more discoveries. An examination of her siblings shows connections to the Ramsey and Rea families (as an aside, one of the Brown/Rea descendants was one of my good friends in high school and I didn’t even know we were blood cousins until very recently). If you keep following the branches there are more and more connections (to the Keown family and Pope family and more).

I won’t bore you here with details about the links to these and other important Armuchee Valley families, but you can see my tree at Ancestry.com for a deeper dive. As always, leave a comment here to get in touch, and we can discuss any connections in more depth.

That web I spoke of last week is so expansive. It connects us all–literally–in a sprawling family tree. But beyond that, we are one in spirit as well, each of us a unique expression of individuality and hope that transcends the generations. Delila is but one symbol of the interconnectedness between us all.

Many thanks to Judy Blackstock for the above portrait of Delila. Judy’s generosity with her mother’s (Evelyn Morgan Shahan) archive has been key in my quest to document the Armuchee Valleys.

Hey There Delila: Mapping An Armuchee Valley Matriarch [Part 1]

East Armuchee Baptist Church cemetery. from “Jordan’s Journey” by Jordan M. Scoggins.

When I was growing up I always thought of the two sides of my family, mom’s side and dad’s side, as being completely segregated. Mom’s family was from Villanow, and Dad’s family was from Subligna. It seemed like two different places, and people from one place didn’t really know people from the other even though they were only 10 miles apart. It wasn’t until I started studying my genealogy that I realized the cross-pollination between these two rural areas–each located at opposite ends of East Armuchee Road–was much more extensive than I thought. I don’t mean today or even the years I was growing up, but going back generations before my parents or even grandparents were born.

Read More

Finns Point National Cemetery

Union monument at Finns Point National Cemetery

Though the vast majority of my family–even going generations back–are rooted in Georgia and other parts of the south, some interesting burial locations exist in other parts of the country. I’ve not discovered any direct family connections to New York, where I call home. But there are a couple of interesting family burials in New Jersey.

James Young Foster (a descendant of the Young family) connects to my tree through his second wife, Margaret Mell Lawrence (my 1st cousin five times removed through the Lawrence family line). James fought in the Civil War in Georgia’s 1st Cavalry Regiment, Company F (National Cem.; National Park). Captured as a prisoner of war, he died in Fort Delaware and is buried in Finns Point National Cemetery in New Jersey. James left behind two daughters, Nancy Mell Foster and Frances Isabell Foster, whom Margaret raised. These daughters married into the White family, a prominent family in the Villanow and Sublgina area that connects many different family branches.

[UPDATE 17 May 2012: A Jordan’s Journey reader noted that I did not mention the children of James Young Foster’s first marriage. While not within the scope of this post, you can check out where his first wife, Martha Wade Booker, and their children are listed.]

My 2nd great grand uncle Moses Gresham Scoggins is also buried at Finns Point. Moses fought in Georgia’s 9th Infantry Regiment, Company B, and was a prisoner of war at Fort Delaware (National Cem.; National Park). Moses had never married and did not leave behind a wife or children. His line of descendancy continues only through his brothers (one of whom is my 2nd great grandfather, James Harvey Scoggins).

Both soldiers, Foster and Scoggins, are listed on the Confederate memorial at Finns Point. Moses also has a commemorative stone in the Chapman family cemetery in West Armuchee.

Read More

147 Years Ago Today

Taken from the steps of the Lincoln Memorial, Washington, D.C., 1951

Today is the 147th anniversary of Abraham Lincoln’s assassination. Earlier this year, I explored the connection between my Rambo family and the Lincoln family. Today, I’m not looking at Lincoln directly but at a few photos related to him.

The two black and white shots are from the collection of my grandmother, Dot Holcomb Scoggins. Taken in 1951 during a family road trip, it’s interesting to see shots of Washington, D.C., over half a century ago. They were taken from the steps of the Lincoln Memorial, looking across the Reflecting Pool towards the Washington Monument. The first photo also shows my grandfather, Harold Scoggins.

Harold Scoggins on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial, Washington Monument in the distance, Washington, D.C., 1951

For good measure, I have also included one of my photos from October 2011. I visited the National World War II Memorial, which stands at the opposite end of the reflecting pool from the Lincoln Memorial. This memorial, of course, did not exist in the 1951 photos as it was not constructed until 2004. You can see the Lincoln Memorial in the background on the left-hand side of the image. Harold was a Military Policeman in the 66th Infantry Division (also known as the Black Panthers) during the war, so this memorial serves in memory of him and the countless other men who fought in that conflict.

Watch for more old photos and more of my photography in upcoming posts on Jordan’s Journey.

World War II Memorial

The Rambo Family Tree by Beverly Nelson Rambo

Looking at The Rambo Family Tree, Arkansas’ Damned Yankees, Cavaliers and Pioneers, and more at the Milstein Division, New York City.

Genealogists spend hours of research digging through old books and wrinkled papers. There are so many sources out there, from library books and courthouse records to the box of papers stuffed away in your aunt’s attic. Your range of research material can be as varied as the family tree is sprawling. Because of that, it helps to learn about resources fellow researchers have consulted, to hear their insights, and to learn why any particular source may (or may not) be useful to you. This post is the beginning of a series of sources I have consulted at some point during my research.

The Rambo family is unique in my tree in that, as far as I know, I am related to anyone with the surname Rambo. The Rambo family is rooted in Sweden where, at the time, there were no surnames. You were identified simply as the son or daughter of your father, i.e., Peter Gunnarson literally translates to Peter, son of Gunnar. When my ancestor Peter came to the New World, he adopted the name Rambo, and therefore, all descendants with that name can be traced back to Peter. You can read a general overview of the early Rambo generations in Jordan’s Journey… but if you want to explore them even deeper, be sure to take a look at The Rambo Family Tree by Beverly Nelson Rambo. Beverly’s tome is an extremely well-documented work on many far-reaching branches of Rambo descendants.

I first looked at Beverly’s book in the Milstein Division of the New York Public Library. It’s an intimidating text made all the more confusing to read because the Rambos used so many of the same names over… and over… and over. This is no fault of the text itself, of course, and ultimately the work is rewarding and an absolutely essential reference for anyone interested in the Rambo family. Just be prepared to tackle your share of headaches as you sort out the inter-generational who’s who.

Read More

Get Your Green On: A Brief Look At My Irish Ancestry

My Irish ancestors John Love and his wife Elizabeth McCarter

Today is the day we all look for a bit of Irish in ourselves. We wear green, go out to eat, and throw back a pint (or 10, perhaps if you’re really Irish). I personally like to spin some Cranberries, Sinéad O’Connor, and U2. Historically, of course, these celebrations are rooted in Christian tradition, and that aspect of the holiday is observed today as well.

But, genealogically speaking, I’ve got Irish in me every day of the year. My Irish ancestry comes into play in the Love and Keown lines of my lineage. Just this week I got back my AncestryDNA test results and this confirmed my Irish (and British Isles in general) pedigree. My DNA is made up of 67% British Isles and 33% Central European ethnicities. This aligns pretty perfectly with what I already knew from my research. (It also suggests I do not have Native American ancestors as told in stories passed down by my grandfather–that will be a topic for a future post.)

As for those strands of Irish DNA…

My ancestor James Alexander Keown (1744-1816) is said to have been born in County Down, Ulster, Ireland. This information is taken from shared member trees on Ancestry.com. I have not yet been able to verify/document this detail. My records for James place him in South Carolina in 1779 and again in 1783 (Jackson). His son Alexander Keown (1783-1822) also lived in South Carolina and died there in 1822 (Young). His wife, Elizabeth Puthuff (1788-1883), survived him for many years and migrated to the Armuchee Valley area of Walker County, Georgia along with several of her children. I do not know much about Elizabeth’s life at this point, but it seems clear she is one of the strong women of whom I have many scattered throughout the tree.

Read More

Forever Young: Mapping Connections Between Armuchee Valley Families

Young Cemetery, West Armuchee, Walker County, Georgia, Feb 2012

This past week, I visited Young Cemetery in West Armuchee in Walker County, Georgia. I always enjoy old cemeteries, particularly those in the Armuchee and Dirt Town Valleys. Young Cemetery is overgrown. It’s challenging to navigate through the graves, and I got stuck by more than my fair share of briar branches… but hiking through the brush makes it that much more my kind of adventure.

Read More

Pope Pedigree: Henry Morris Pope

Even though I descend from many generations that mostly lived and died in the same general area where I grew up, many people in my extended tree had more adventurous spirits and planted family roots elsewhere. I enjoy exploring those lines and stories, contemplating the way some of us take different paths and ultimately lead very different lives than even our closest family members.

Read More

Maids-A-Milking: Suttle Women in West Armuchee

Suttle Dairy Farm
The old Suttle family dairy barn in West Armuchee, January 2012

Digging up stories throughout the process of writing Jordan’s Journey is one of the most interesting aspects of the project. I discovered many little details about my ancestors that helped me gain insight into their lives and personalities. I particularly enjoyed learning about the women. Women often don’t get their due in genealogy because we live in a patriarchal society. Sometimes, maiden names get lost, and you may not even know the family any given female ancestor comes from (I have several of these in my tree). I was, however, lucky enough to uncover quite a bit about some of my women ancestors, such as Caroline Pracilla Young (a brave pioneer who lost a husband and five children but kept going for her two surviving sons) or Margaret Lawrence (a rare matriarch whose children took her name–not that of their father). You can read about both of these women in Jordan’s Journey. But now I want to talk about a more distant female connection.

Read More