East Armuchee Baptist Church [video]

This video on the history of East Armuchee Baptist Church is a great one to share as we draw close to the one-year anniversary of the Jordan’s Journey blog. Several elements in this film connect with things I’ve written about on the blog, such as Delila Brown Ward (here, here, and here), some watermelon memories, and the two posts on music at East Armuchee Baptist Church.

Much more history about East Armuchee Baptist Church isn’t reflected in this video, though. It’s difficult to cram over 125 years of history into just a few minutes. There’s so much more to explore–so many interesting facts and family connections. I’ll continue to collect this history and work on new creations for the future, perhaps in a formal written article or maybe an expanded version of this film. Please let me know if you have anything to share, from your personal recollections to old photographs or anything else.

Read More

Two Mules, A Buggy, and Some Friends

Photo from collection of Martha Dell Grigsby Richardson

Today’s post is the above photo (be sure to click to see the full image). I don’t know much about the image other than who the people are. I estimate it was taken in the late 1930’s. I’m not sure where it was taken (possibly somewhere in East Armuchee, as that’s where the people are from, though I suspect it could have been taken somewhere along Pocket Road) or why everyone posed for this particular shot. But it’s a fantastic image, so I wanted to show it to you. I don’t have a story to tell or a history to recount. Sometimes, a photograph speaks entirely for itself, and this is one of those images.

Moving left to right, the people above are as follows:

A special thanks goes out to Martha Dell Grigsby Richardson (sister of David Grigsby, pictured here). This photo is from her collection.

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.