Georgia Backroads: “We Are One People”

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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Connections: Pretty People at Puryear Woods

Puryear Woods
Taken at the “Puryear Woods” on John “Jack” Puryear’s place near the brick store in Villanow.

The Puryear family is a well-known family in the Armuchee Valley area. While I do not descend from the Puryears directly, they do (like the Suttles) connect in my tree through marriage. Nancy Elizabeth Ward, my 3rd great-grand aunt, married Hamilton Young Puryear (1841-1903). Hamilton is a son of William Marcellus Puryear (1810-1866), and grandson of John Puryear (1786-1836). William Marcellus had a brother named John “Jack” Puryear (1822-1907).

Jack Puryear is among those old-time settlers of East Armuchee.

His homestead was located on lots 80 and 81 of Walker County District 26, Section 3 (Will; Property Tax Digests). In layman’s terms, this is located on the north side of Highway 136, around where Dicks Creek Road crosses the highway. Clements Pond is a feature on the map that is on this land (presumably named for C.A. Clements who, according to the Walker County Tax Assessor, later owned this land). It is interesting to note that these lots (80 and 81) are directly north of lots 101 and 100–the plots that made up my 3rd great grandfather Micajah Pope‘s (1808-1867) home place. So Micajah Pope and John Puryear were neighbors and certainly would have known each other (Deed). Jacob Goodson‘s (1808-1882, another 3rd great grandfather) home place was just to the east of these Puryear lots.

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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.

Suttle’s Mill [video]

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 digestible experiment to get things started if you will. You’d be amazed at how much work goes into creating something so brief. Ah… the things we do for art and genealogy!

A special thanks goes out to Michael Harren for working with me on this project. He provided the beautiful score cues. You can look forward to more original scoring from Michael in future Jordan’s Journey videos. I know I am!

The photo of Suttle’s Mill, taken in about the 1940s, was contributed by Kim Hendren. Ken digitized the image from the collection of Frank Shaw of Davis Crossroads, Georgia. Both Kim and Frank are descendants of the Suttle family.

The photo of the Puryear & Hunt general store is from the collection of Evelyn Morgan Shahan, generously shared by her daughter Judy Blackstock. This particular photo seems to be somewhat widespread in collections of Armuchee Valley families as I have encountered at least two others who have antique copies of the image. It’s a wonderful shot and I am grateful it has survived the generations.

To learn more about Green Bush be sure to read Jordan’s Journey. If you have any photos or other information to share, please leave a comment and get in touch.

Forever Young: Mapping Connections Between Armuchee Valley Families

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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