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Rest In Peace, Cousin Martha

  • 06 Feb 2014/
  • Posted By : Jordan M. Scoggins/
  • 0 comments /
  • Archived in: The Journey
Jordan with Martha Neal Dennis at Jordan's Journey lecture in LaFayette, GA
Jordan M. Scoggins and Martha Neal Dennis at the Jordan’s Journey lecture, LaFayette-Walker Public Library, 4 Jun 2012

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 her before that day at my lecture.

Mrs. Dennis attended my lecture after seeing the announcement in the Walker County Messenger. She recognized my name from many years earlier. You see, I participated in a Daughters of the American Revolution ceremony when I was a young boy to honor some of my ancestors. My name had been listed in the program from that ceremony, and Mrs. Dennis, an active DAR member, was also there. The day of my lecture, she brought that program–from some 20 years earlier–to show me.

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McWilliams Cemetery [video]

  • 16 Nov 2013/
  • Posted By : Jordan M. Scoggins/
  • 0 comments /
  • Archived in: The Videos
A picturesque scene of an old, dilapidated house in a field between two trees, one standing tall and another fallen to the ground.

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. Luckily for you Jordan’s Journey fans, I recently uncovered an almost-finished Jordan’s Journey video I shot in May 2012. I could not polish it off and share it with you for several reasons, and I had almost even forgotten it existed. But when I rediscovered the work in progress, I finally felt compelled to finish it. It’s a bit different from most Jordan’s Journey videos, and because of those differences, it was a more challenging video to shoot and is a bit rough in spots. But still, I’m glad to have made it.

My cousin and friend (we were friends way back before I even knew we were cousins) Christa McWilliams joined me to help document some history about the McWilliams Cemetery in West Armuchee. I couldn’t have done this video without her. It’s our attempt to tell the story about this significant cemetery, which is also a story about our families.

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Georgia Backroads: “We Are One People”

  • 31 Aug 2013/
  • Posted By : Jordan M. Scoggins/
  • 0 comments /
  • Archived in: Georgia Backroads
Georgia Backroads, Autumn 2013

I am delighted to announce the publication of my latest article in the current (Autumn 2013) issue of Georgia Backroads. “We Are One People” explores 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, illustrate the piece. So much research and thought went into this article, and I feel this is one of my best pieces ever. Georgia Backroads has done a fantastic job putting together the issue with excellent writing, photography, and design. You can pick up a copy at newsstands or order the issue online.

If you haven’t seen my previous work for Georgia Backroads, check out the Winter 2012 issue as well!

For the other researchers out there, I thought I would share my bibliography for the “We Are One People” article (the sources are not printed in the magazine itself). Enjoy!

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History of the Kinsey-Kenemer Cemetery [Guest Post]

  • 02 Feb 2013/
  • Posted By : Jordan M. Scoggins/
  • 8 comments /
  • Archived in: People and Places
Looking at knoll from cabin (NW)
Looking at knoll from cabin (NW)

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 her heritage through a maternal family lineage project in graduate school. She developed a keen appreciation for the profound importance of family history to future generations. Lynne’s maternal grandparents were lifetime residents of the West Armuchee Valley. She is currently employed as a Quality Improvement Specialist with Lookout Mountain Community Services, a public behavioral health agency serving Northwest Georgia.

Lynne is particularly interested in the Cherokee, and I am fascinated by her work. I’ve wanted to explore the Cherokee connection to my ancestors more in-depth, but it’s a very difficult topic to research. Lynnne’s history of the Kinsey-Kennemer Cemetery and its Cherokee origins is a valuable step toward documenting Armuchee Valley’s Cherokee history.

—–

The Kinsey-Kenemer Cemetery is located in the East Armuchee Valley of southeast Walker County, Georgia. East Armuchee Valley is a small, rural, agrarian community nestled between John’s Mountain on the east and Dick’s Ridge on the west. The villages of Villanow and Subligna mark end points on the north and south respectively. The area is a good example of the rolling hills of the Southern Appalachian ridge and valley topography.

The Kinsey-Kenemer Cemetery is situated on a “knoll” (a small, natural hill) which rises up independently of the nearby ridges. Tucked away on private land, the cemetery was unknown to the Walker County Historical Society when members surveyed and documented the cemeteries in the County in the 1970s and 1980s. The cemetery is described similarly by different sources. Dr. Norma Tompkins writes that “Lucinda (Kinsey Brock) was buried on a tree-shaded knoll overlooking the Indian village which had been her first home as a young bride” (Walker, Heritage 103). Mary Kennemer’s records state that “Elender Kinsey married Needham Kennemer (whose [sic] grave and stone markings are on the high ridge in a cemetery at East Armuchee” (Estus). Rosa Peterson Orr wrote that “Kizziah Smith, mother of Union soldier Asa D. Smith, and mother-in-law of Mary Clementine Brock Smith, was buried at the foot of John’s Mountain” (Orr, Personal).

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Halloween Memories in East Armuchee

  • 27 Oct 2012/
  • Posted By : Jordan M. Scoggins/
  • 3 comments /
  • Archived in: People and Places

‘Tis the season when ghosts and goblins start to make appearances. Halloween has always been one of my favorite times of the year. 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 steps from my front door, I typically bunker down for the evening and don’t step foot outside until November comes. Yes, I’m a cynical New Yorker, I admit it!

But, still, Halloween is a fun time of year. It brings out creativity and imagination in people, which I appreciate.

Halloween was a big part of growing up, too. At East Armuchee Baptist Church, we used to hold fall festivals. The community would gather for an old-fashioned weenie roast decked out in our Halloween costumes. We even had a pumpkin carving contest one year. I remember one lady from the church–I can’t recall who–taught me how to carve the wickedest-looking eyes. Every year I carved a pumpkin at home after that, and I always did it the way she taught me. The photo below was taken in 1987 and was one of those later Halloweens. See those pumpkin eyes? That’s how I learned to carve them. I always thought it was the coolest way to make the eyes. Oh, and that’s me… dressed up as a dog. If you can’t tell which one is me, I’m on the left. The one on the right is Rounder, my best friend growing up!

Jordan dressed up as a dog for Halloween, 1987
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Hey There Delila: Mapping An Armuchee Valley Matriarch [Part 3]

  • 14 Jul 2012/
  • Posted By : Jordan M. Scoggins/
  • 2 comments /
  • Archived in: People and Places
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).

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

  • 30 Jun 2012/
  • Posted By : Jordan M. Scoggins/
  • 1 comments /
  • Archived in: People and Places
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.

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Finns Point National Cemetery

  • 06 May 2012/
  • Posted By : Jordan M. Scoggins/
  • 1 comments /
  • Archived in: People and Places
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.

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Forever Young: Mapping Connections Between Armuchee Valley Families

  • 25 Feb 2012/
  • Posted By : Jordan M. Scoggins/
  • 8 comments /
  • Archived in: People and Places
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.

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