All You Need Is Love

Mike & Rhonda at LaFayette High School senior prom, 1966

I originally drafted this post for use on Valentine’s Day. But I’ve had my head buried in so many projects this year (beyond Jordan’s Journey) that the writing and research simply didn’t get done in time. Rather than wait until next year, I thought I would finish this and post it now. After all, every day is a day to celebrate love, not just Valentine’s Day, right?

When it comes to genealogy, I’ve often wondered about my ancestors… what were their romances like? How did couples court each other “back in the day?” In our age of speed dating and online matchmaking, things look pretty different for us than they did for our ancestors. Unfortunately, our research often doesn’t shed any light on these questions.

Or does it?

Studying the pages of old local newspapers gives us a few clues here…

News reports of social visits often foreshadowed marriages. An item in the Summerville News from 14 Jun 1893 notes, “T.H. [Thomas Henry] Scoggins spent last Sunday evening at B.F. Dunaways” (Grigsby). It’s such a simple sentence, and it’s funny to think it was newsworthy. But people back then were just as interested in each other’s going-ons as we are today. Why do you think Facebook is so popular?

Thomas Henry Scoggins was the son of Thomas Newton Scoggins and Evaline Clarissa Lawrence and the grandson of William Delaney Scoggins (my 3rd great-grandfather). Less than a year after spending Sunday with the Dunaways–no doubt courting B.F.’s daughter–Thomas Scoggins married Etna Dunaway on 3 Nov 1894. This romance ends in tragedy as Etna’s obituary marks her death on Christmas Day, 1895, leaving Thomas behind with an infant daughter (Grigsby).

Read More

Connections: Bagwell & Beyond

Bagwell & Beyond chart thumbnail

Previously, I wrote about the connection between the Scoggins and Bagwell families. I also wrote about a connection to the Ogletree family that made a more-than-a-decade-long friend into a step-cousin! But since I love to sniff out those crazy and interesting connections everywhere, the story doesn’t end there. In a different branch of my step-cousin Terry’s tree, I noticed one of his grandmothers was a Bagwell. I knew about the other Bagwells in my tree, and saw that Terry’s Bagwell ancestors were also from Georgia. If it were a name like Jones or Smith, I wouldn’t think too much of it–those names are much too common. Bagwell, however, is not an everyday surname.

I traced the lines, moving along the tree branches, looking for a connection. It turns out that Terry’s Bagwell line goes back to a gentleman named Daniel Bagwell. Daniel Bagwell was born in Ireland and died in Wake County, North Carolina, in about 1802 (Ancestry.com, Sons). My friend Terry descends through Daniel’s son John Daniel Bagwell (1761-1855). My great grand aunt Addie Bagwell (from my previous Bagwell post) descends through John Daniel’s brother William Bagwell (1757-1848).

John Daniel Bagwell (1761-1855) was a Revolutionary War patriot born in North Carolina. He died in Gwinnett County, Georgia (Ancestroy.com, Sons). John’s son Henson also came to Georgia and was counted there in Gwinnett County by 1830. By 1850, he was in Hall County. He died in about 1887 (Bagwell). Henson’s son Wiley (1861-?) migrated to Alabama, and Terry’s line ultimately descends there.

Read More

Sisters & Cousins: The Scoggins and Bagwell Family Connections

Addie Bagwell, Fred Scoggins, Annie Scoggins, August 1958

Earlier this year, you might have seen one of several articles on the Jordan’s Journey book that appeared in northwest Georgia newspapers. If you haven’t read them, be sure to check out the press section of this site, which will link you to each of them. It was hard work talking to the press! It’s an experience that is difficult to prepare for, and even having experienced it on a small, local scale, I have a whole new appreciation for what it’s like to be a high-profile celebrity who constantly deals with the press. It’s not that the reporters twist your words or ask trick questions or anything quite so nefarious, it’s just difficult to put your words together clearly and elegantly when you’re on the spot–especially when you’re dealing with a subject as convoluted as genelaogy can be!

One of the things I mentioned in the interview for the Dalton Daily Citizen article was that brothers and sisters often married each other. Uh, what?! Yes, that was my reaction when I saw it printed on the page. I realized immediately that what I said sounded very… wrong. What I meant to convey was that siblings from one set of parents often would marry siblings from another. That’s a very different thing than brothers marrying sisters. You can see how my words were not formed as accurately as they should have been. And I fret to think that genealogical researchers years from now may stumble across that article and think, “Wow, that guy who wrote Jordan’s Journey made some crazy claims!”

So here I am to set the record straight: it was not common for a brother to marry his sister. Yet, brothers from one family often married sisters from another family (or cousins from another family). Let me give you an example.

Read More