Happy Birthday, Dad

Mike’s 14th birthday, 1962. The cake was made by his mother, Dot Scoggins.


Today is my dad’s birthday. This photo was taken on his 14th birthday. His mother always made a cake to celebrate the special day–something she even did for us grandchildren. Also of note is the framed quilted wall hanging behind Dad. This is one of at least three such hangings made by my grandmother. Like many of the women in my family, she was a proficient craft artist and worked in many mediums over the years.

Dad, a huge thanks goes out to you for all your help along Jordan’s Journey. It would not have been possible without you. I love you, and happy birthday!

Connections: The Rambo and Lincoln Families

The Rambo and Lincoln families chart

It’s always interesting to map out famous connections in your family tree–however distant they may be. I mark one of those connections today with the celebration of Abraham Lincoln’s birthday.

Abraham Lincoln was born on 12 Feb 1809 in Hadgenville, Kentucky. He became the 16th president of the United States of America in Mar 1861. My relationship is so distant that it may be laughable to even consider us “related.” But mapping out these sorts of connections is fascinating not only because of the fame factor but you begin to realize that we are all connected in one way or another… it’s just a matter of knowing how to put together the puzzle pieces.

Read More

The Union in the South

Consulting Goodspeed’s History of Tennessee in the NYPL’s Milstein Division, September 2011

One of the exciting things about the research behind Jordan’s Journey was the opportunity to learn about topics I had never explored before. One such subject was the Civil War. Like most things we learn in history class growing up, the Civil War is glossed over and never examined as closely as it should be. Most of us have an oversimplified impression of the war as being about the North versus the South and slavery versus freedom. The reality, however, is that the story is much more complicated than that. In terms of Jordan’s Journey, I learned that not only were there military regiments from southern states who fought for the Union, but I realized that several people from different family lines in my tree fought for those regiments–including a 2nd great grandfather on Mom’s side and a 3rd great grandfather on Dad’s side. It was a surprise to uncover this, as the family had long forgotten it.

In my Anderson family, my 2nd great-grandfather Abraham Anderson fought for the Union in Tennessee’s 5th Mounted Infantry regiment. You can read more about Abraham in the book, but I want to share more about Tennessee’s involvement with the Union.

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

Armuchee (ᎠᎽᏥ)

ᎠᎽᏥ is Armuchee in Cherokee

When I tell people I grew up in East Armuchee, they almost inevitably say, “Ar-what?” If you spell it out for them, they say, “Ar-MU-chee?” It’s hard to make people understand the way we say it: Ar-MUR-chee. Yes, it’s weird, I know that. But it’s the way we say it. It’s like how in New York we say “How-stun” Street instead of “Hew-stun” like the city in Texas. If you say “Hew-stun Street” in NYC, we’ll look at you as if you have three heads, just like if you say “Ar-MU-chee” back home.

Armuchee (ᎠᎽᏥ) is a Cherokee (ᏣᎳᎩ) word. Cherokee is an endangered language, but tech companies are doing their part to help preserve this valuable part of our world heritage. You can use Cherokee on your iPhone  or search Google with the language (Murph; Google). Despite this, no one knows precisely what “Armuchee” means. There are various interpretations, including “land of beautiful flowers” and “much water” or “much fish” (Armuchee). In the words of Larry Salmon, “perhaps the real meaning was lost on the Trail of Tears” (Salmon).

Read More

The book cover unveiled…

Jordan’s Journey by Jordan M. Scoggins


Unveiled at last, here is the cover of Jordan’s Journey. The cover photo is a self-portrait taken in September 2011 on the Pope/Jordan family farm where I grew up in East Armuchee, Georgia. I shot the primary footage for the book trailer on the same day.

Be sure to follow this site and check back soon for ordering information!

Research and Process

Doing genealogical research in the probate office in Searcy, Arkansas, Sep 2011

Some of you may be interested in my research methods while writing Jordan’s Journey. I used no one approach to write the book, combining many different ways of accessing information. If you are interested in specific topics or have specific questions, please let me know so I can address those issues in future posts.

Read More

Ridges and Valleys and Streams… Oh My!

View from John's Mountain
Looking west over East Armuchee Valley towards Dick’s Ridge

The area of northwest Georgia where I grew up is part of the Valley and Ridge region. This region comprises “long northeast-southwest-trending valleys and ridges that give the region its name” (Geology). The area is not unique to Georgia and “extends continuously from New York to the edge of the Coastal Plain (fall line) in Alabama” (Chowns). This expansive area is undoubtedly filled with numerous communities and fascinating genealogies. Generations of my family are nestled deep in these valleys in Walker and Chattooga counties in northwest Georgia–and that is where the meat of Jordan’s Journey takes place.

Read More

Where are you from?

The East Armuchee farm where I grew up, 1996
Bales of hay in the bottom field of Earl Jordan’s farm, East Armuchee Valley, Walker County, Georgia, 1996

Growing up in the rural south, people never ask, “Where are you from?” (unless you have an unfamiliar accent that automatically marks you as an outsider). It’s assumed that you are American and, more precisely, Southern. There’s no ethnic or national identity beyond that.

But living all my adult life in New York City–a virtual stew of world culture–people always ask you, “Where are you from?”

Read More

What’s in a name?

What’s in a name? When it comes to genealogy, a lot. Family names are the doorway into the world of genealogy and can lead you down roads full of exciting stories no matter how “normal” or “boring” you think your family may be. These stories are a big part of what Jordan’s Journey is about. I have stepped beyond the usual descendant charts and register reports and have put together something unique in the world of genealogy. As much as Jordan’s Journey is about the people and places, at the core, it is about–as the title implies–my journey. You will enjoy this site (and the book even more) even if the names in the above word cloud don’t sound familiar. Think of these names as the cast of characters in an epic tale of human heritage and generational perseverance.

Come along… I look forward to hearing from you.

Join me on Jordan’s Journey

Join me on Jordan's Journey
Take a trip into the past…

In the beginning, this blog will be made up of extras and outtakes from and expansion upon the Jordan’s Journey book. In most cases, this means the stories and images that just didn’t quite fit into the book’s narrative or space constraints. These extras are no less interesting and will always tie back to the book in some way. Over time I anticipate that my research will lead to new discoveries so this blog will be a place to share those things after the book is said and done (or printed and bound, as the case may be). Finally, the blog will serve as a place to publish corrections when mistakes pop up in the printed text, and they inevitably will with a work of this nature.

Contributions are welcome as are guest posts. Contact me with an idea, and we’ll figure it out!

In my next post, I’ll introduce the primary family names that are explored in Jordan’s Journey.