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. I’m keeping it online for now as I think the posts are a valuable archive. People still visit the site, and I am grateful for that, even though I’m not sure when/if I will have the time to pick it back up and update regularly like I did in the beginning. That’s why I’m so thankful when readers want me to help them share information for the greater genealogical good. One such reader is Rhonda Locke.

Rhonda Locke is a fellow researcher of Armuchee Valley families, particularly those associated with Concord Church (on Concord Road in Villanow, GA). As a fellow descendant of the Keown family, she’s also my distant cousin (as I have always said–we’re all connected)! She sent me this wonderful photo and asked me to share it with you.

Concord Methodist Church group photo, early 1900s
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Georgia Backroads: “The Language of History”

Georgia Backroads, Summer 2014

I have a new article in the current issue (Summer 2014) of Georgia Backroads. Titled “The Language of History,” it is an expanded and slightly reworked 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, and I think you will too. You can order a copy online, or if you’re in an area that stocks Georgia Backroads, you can check your local newsstands.

This is my third article for Georgia Backroads. My other articles with the magazine are “The Scoggins Family and Subligna Go Way Back” (Winter 2012) and “We Are One People” (Autumn 2013). I have also published “We Are One People” as a limited edition artist multiple under my art name luke kurtis. The We Are One People multiple was part of the INTERSECTION exhibition at Massillon Museum and is available to purchase in the bd Shop.

McWilliams Cemetery [video]

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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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).

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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.

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