School Days: Subligna High School Class of 1949
Recently my cousin Christa McWilliams set up a new group on Facebook called Subligna Community Members & Friends. Her idea was to bring people together to share old photos and memories about growing up in the tiny community nestled at the southern end of the East and West Armuchee valleys. It’s the same community where […]
Photo from Concord Methodist Church, Villanow, GA
It’s been a long time since I’ve posted anything here at Jordan’s Journey. Life happens, things change, and I just have not had the time to put into creating new content for this blog. For now I’m keeping it online as I think the posts are a valuable archive. People do still visit the site […]
Georgia Backroads: “The Language of History” [Out Now!]
![Georgia Backroads: "The Language of History" [Out Now!]](https://bd-studios.com/journey/wp-content/uploads/2014/06/georgia-backroads-summer-2014-cover-150x150.jpg)
I have a new article out in the current issue (Summer 2014) of Georgia Backroads. The article is titled “The Language of History” and it is an expanded and slightly re-worked version of the post “The Language of Genealogy” that previously appeared here on Jordan’s Journey. I really like the new version of this article […]
Rest In Peace, Cousin Martha
Back in 2012 when I did the Jordan’s Journey lectures in Walker and Chattooga Counties (Georgia), Martha Neal Dennis was one of the many people who came out to see me. Mrs. Dennis is a blood cousin of mine–we both grew up in Armuchee Valley and descend from the same Keown family–though I never knew […]
McWilliams Cemetery [video]
![McWilliams Cemetery [video]](https://bd-studios.com/journey/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/mcwilliams-homeplace-west-armuchee-150x150.jpg)
Although you wouldn’t know it from updates here at Jordan’s Journey, 2013 has been one of the busiest years of my life! Don’t worry though–it’s all in a good way. And luckily for all you Jordan’s Journey fans, recently I uncovered an almost-finished Jordan’s Journey video that I shot back in May 2012. Due to […]
Georgia Backroads: “We Are One People” [Out Now!]
![Georgia Backroads: "We Are One People" [Out Now!]](https://bd-studios.com/journey/wp-content/uploads/2013/08/georgia-backroads-autumn-2013-cover-150x150.jpg)
I am very pleased to announce the publication of my latest article in the current (Autumn 2013) issue of Georgia Backroads. “We Are One People” is an exploration of my ancestral ties to slavery, focusing specifically on the Armuchee Valley and Dirt Town Valley regions. My original photography, as well as antique images I curated, […]
History of the Kinsey-Kenemer Cemetery [Guest Post]
![History of the Kinsey-Kenemer Cemetery [Guest Post]](https://bd-studios.com/journey/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/kinsey-kenemery-cemetery_cherokee-cabin-150x150.jpg)
I’m pleased to present the very first guest post here at Jordan’s Journey. Today’s article and photos are by Lynne McGehee Cabe. Lynne is not only a fellow descendant of several of the earliest Armuchee Valley families but a Scoggins descendant too! Trained as a professional social worker and public administrator, Lynne became interested in […]
Halloween Memories in East Armuchee
‘Tis the season when ghosts and goblins start to make appearances. Halloween has always been one of my favorite times of years. You’d never know that to be around me on the holiday though. I haven’t dressed up in years. I don’t go to parties. And due to the infamous Greenwich Village Halloween Parade that passes literally […]
The Language of Genealogy
Learning about family history teaches you a lot about history in general. The obvious areas are things like the Civil War and even World War II. When you connect your family to the collective stories of history, suddenly those grand narratives seem a bit more personal. As a New Yorker I can’t help but wonder […]
Earl Jordan’s Barn [video]
![Earl Jordan's Barn [video]](https://bd-studios.com/journey/wp-content/uploads/2012/10/barn-shoot-150x150.jpg)
It’s time for another Jordan’s Journey video. Last time I explored some Civil War-era family roots out in Arkansas with my Caney Fork video. That video was a bit longer form than anything else I’ve done here so far and took a more explicitly documentary approach. The video I’m sharing with you today takes us […]
Coming Home: More Music from East Armuchee
When I asked my mom if she knew of any recordings of music at East Armuchee Baptist Church she at first told me no. Then, almost as if I had willed it into existence, a few days later my mother–rummaging through some old junk–found a bag of old cassette tapes. She wasn’t sure where the tapes […]
The Mythology of Genealogy (or, The Stories We Tell)
Recently I wrote a series of posts on Delila Brown Ward (see here, here, and here). Today is a sort of followup to those posts, focusing on Delila’s husband, Alfred C. Ward. Alfred (or Alford) C. Ward, my 4th great grandfather, was a son of Absalom Ward and Nancy Ann Coleman and the grandson of […]
Mad Dogs and Venomous Snakes: The Inconsequential Nature of Everyday Life
Whenever I get the time, I love poring through old newspapers from Chattooga and Walker Counties, searching the bits of news for names of people in my family tree. The Summerville News and Walker County Messenger are littered with my ancestors far and wide. Most of the time when an ancestor is mentioned it seems […]
School Days: Armuchee Valley School, Class of 1991
Today’s entry in the School Days series is quite different. Where as the previous school photos were taken in the 1930’s, today’s school photo was taken in 1990. It is, in fact, my 5th grade class from Armuchee Valley School. I love how this photo is labeled with all the names–making any detective work much […]
Hey There Delila: Mapping An Armuchee Valley Matriarch [Part 3]
![Hey There Delila: Mapping An Armuchee Valley Matriarch [Part 3]](https://bd-studios.com/journey/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/nancy-brown-tombstone_old-bethlehem-cemetery_chattooga-county_georgia-150x150.jpg)
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 Delilah. I’ll end this series by talking about Delila’s beginnings. She was born in Spartanburg County, South Carolina to William Brown and Nancy Pruitt. According to the 1850 census, William Brown hailed […]
Hey There Delila: Mapping An Armuchee Valley Matriarch [Part 2]
![Hey There Delila: Mapping An Armuchee Valley Matriarch [Part 2]](https://bd-studios.com/journey/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/delila-brown-ward_portrait-150x150.jpg)
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 (click the banner above to see a larger portrait of her). To show just how even a single ancestor can take you down […]
Hey There Delila: Mapping An Armuchee Valley Matriarch [Part 1]
![Hey There Delila: Mapping An Armuchee Valley Matriarch [Part 1]](https://bd-studios.com/journey/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/delila-brown-ward-tombstone_20090617_detail-150x150.jpg)
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 that people from one place didn’t really know people from the other even though they […]
Connections: The Pettyjohn Family and Me
I love studying genelaogy–and not just the genealogy of my direct ancestors. I love looking at all the different branches of my tree, discovering unique and interesting connections all over the place. Sometimes you can map out distant relationships to famous individauls and other times you discover you’re kin to people you’ve known for years… […]
School Days: Villanow School, circa late 1930’s
Today I have another entry for the School Days series. This time I present a photo from the Villanow School which stood in Villanow at the opposite end of the valley as the Subligna School photo I shared last time. The Villanow school was among the last one room school houses in the area. The […]
Concord Road [video]
![Concord Road [video]](https://bd-studios.com/journey/wp-content/uploads/2012/05/concord-road-still-150x150.jpg)
Today I present the second history video here on Jordan’s Journey. The first video, Suttle’s Mill, was just a short teaser to get things started. This new video, Concord Road, takes the concept a bit further. Concord Road is one of the smaller roads in the East Armuchee valley. It’s not a main thruway and […]
Little Country Church: Memories of Music at East Armuchee
If you were to ask me what are the most important things to me, music would certainly be one of the top items on that list. Looking back as far back as I can remember music has always played an important role in my life. If you’ve been reading this blog, you know music has […]
Uncovering the Past through Art: Sacred Harp and Forgotten Family Memories
Way back before Jordan’s Journey came out I was doing all kinds of work not only writing, photographing, and designing the book but also figuring out how this website was going to work, what I wanted to do for the book trailer, and of course the research itself. As an artist, most everything I do […]
Suttle’s Mill [video]
![Suttle's Mill [video]](https://bd-studios.com/journey/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/suttlesmill-150x150.jpg)
This week I am proud to bring you the first video for Jordan’s Journey since the original book trailer. This video is about Suttle’s Mill in the area known as Green Bush in the West Armuchee valley of Walker County Georgia. This is a very short film, a quickly digestable experiment to get things started, […]
Forever Young: Mapping Connections Between Armuchee Valley Families
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 difficult to navigate through the graves and I got stuck by more than my fair share of briar branches… but hiking through […]