Sheffield makes history again..
Sheffield makes history again and it makes me want to cry…
The following is an excerpt to an article from al.com regarding the end of a decades long nightmare:
Alabama Death Row inmate Kenneth Eugene Smith on Thursday night became the first prisoner to die using a new untested method of execution in the United States—suffocation by nitrogen gas.
The 58-year-old was executed at William C. Holman Correctional Facility in Atmore.
Smith and his spiritual advisor, the Rev. Jeff Hood, had issued this joint statement prior to the execution: “The eyes of the world are on this impending moral apocalypse. Our prayer is that people will not turn their heads. We simply cannot normalize the suffocation of each other.”
In announcing the execution had been carried out, Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey stated: “I pray that Elizabeth Sennett’s family can receive closure after all these years dealing with that great loss.”
After the execution, the Rev. Hood held a press conference with Death Penalty Action officials and Smith’s wife at a local hotel.
Hood said he has witnessed five lethal injection executions over the past year or so. “Lethal injection is preferable every single day,” over nitrogen, he said. He said that witnesses didn’t see the execution over in a matter of seconds. “What we saw was minutes of someone struggling for his life,” he said.
“Kenny Smith was by no means a perfect person,” Hood added. “We have got to make sure that this never, ever, happens again.”
Mike Sennett, one of Elizabeth Sennett’s two sons, stood at the back of the hotel press conference listening to Hood and others. When asked what he thought of the press conference, he said simply, “it sucks.”
Mike Sennett, had spoken earlier at a press conference at the prison media center. His brother, Chuck, stood behind him but did not speak. “Nothing happened here today that’s gonna bring mom back,” Mike Sennett said.
“We’re glad this is over,” said Mike Sennett, who added all three involved in his mother’s death had been forgiven.
Mike Sennett said “evil deeds” had been paid for tonight. “Elizabeth Dorlene Sennett got her justice tonight. ”https://www.al.com/news/birmingham/2024/01/alabama-to-execute-kenneth-smith-with-untested-nitrogen-gas-tonight.html
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This nightmare happened in my family’s own backyards. My heart still breaks for those two sons and their mother, all innocents. The wife was brutally murdered in her home near Coon Dog Cemetery. The scene was staged to appear like a robbery. This story begins with the Westside Church of Christ preacher in southwest Sheffield, having an affair with a woman who attended church in his congregation. Then there was a large life insurance policy taken out on his wife. The preacher contracted with a man to hire someone to kill his wife. There were three men involved in the contract for hire scheme. Kenneth Eugene Smith was the third and last to live.
This is how I remember the event. The wife was killed, the husband was arrested for hiring contractors to kill his wife, in this case there were three men involved in the murder. Her life was worth so little in the amount paid to have her killed – $1,000 paid to each of three men. The husband was arrested. Charles Sennett was allowed to go to the home of one of the sons accompanied by the Sheriff (according to neighbor reports) to allow the husband to tell one of his sons about his culpability in person. My grandparents lived one house away from the corner of the street that the son lived on; just a couple of houses around the corner, nearby the Winston Cemetery. The father, Charles Sennett, was allowed to go into the son’s home. When he returned to the vehicle, he got possession of a gun and shot himself. He must have died on the scene. My heart broke for those sons and for that innocent woman and her family.
In my childhood neighborhood, a few members of that church made their church doctrine known to nearby neighbors. Time and again one woman (former family member) was known to tell my family members that if they did not belong to the Church of Christ they were going to hell. I recall one of my beloved family members telling this woman that if you are going to Heaven, then I am happy with my choice. There were members of the same congregation that did not do that. The neighborhood and I am sure the entire congregation were in mortal shock about this turn of events with the Sennett family. I have often wondered who ‘the other woman’ was and just how happy she was with her behavior that catapulted such a tragic event.
When memory goes back to those events, I have often wondered how those two boys coped with the murder of their mother and the fact that their father was the perpetrator. It disturbed the entire neighborhood so profoundly that the collective hoped that the sons would survive and thrive; and that they would be happy, have happy families, and not have to live with this all their lifelong. Maybe the execution of Kenneth Eugene Smith will put an “END TO THE NIGHTMARE OF ALMOST 40 YEARS.”
The following are media reports from al.com and others on the events related to the murder-for-hire.
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Former sheriff recalls woman’s ‘horrific’ murder-for-hire by pastor as Alabama prepares execution
- Updated: Jan. 26, 2024, 10:36 a.m.|
- Published: Nov. 17, 2022, 9:14 a.m.
By: Kent Faulk | kfaulk@al.com
Ronnie May remembers the horrific scene on March 18, 1988, when he responded to a call from Charles Sennett, a Church of Christ pastor in Sheffield.
Sennett claimed he found his wife, Elizabeth Sennett, dead in their home on Coon Dog Cemetery Road in Colbert County. She had been stabbed, and beaten with a fireplace implement, in what investigators would soon conclude was a murder-for-hire paid for by the pastor and staged to look like a home invasion and burglary.
“She fought it and she fought hard,” said May, who was chief investigator with the Colbert County Sheriff’s Office at the time. “It was horrific to me.”
“You feel for the victim and what they went through – and the horror she went through in her last minutes,” May said.
And you feel for the family and the range of emotions, including pain and anger, May said of the Sennetts’ two sons. “You see the horror and disbelief in their faces,” said May, who retired in 2015 after 42 years in law enforcement and 16 years as sheriff.
The sons plan to attend tonight’s scheduled execution of Kenneth Eugene Smith, one of the three men convicted in the murder-for-hire scheme – their father committed suicide before he could be charged. The execution is set for 6 p.m. at Holman Correctional Facility.
Smith ultimately confessed to his role, along with John Forrest Parker and a third man who had arranged it, according to law enforcement and court documents. At his first trial the jury voted to sentence Smith to death. At a second trial the jury voted 11-1 to recommend life without parole but the judge overrode it and sentenced him to death.
On Tuesday night the U.S. Supreme Court denied Smith’s request to halt the execution.
According to court records summarizing the case, Charles Sennett Sr. recruited Billy Gray Williams, who in turn recruited Smith and Parker, to kill his wife.
“He was to pay them each $1,000 in cash for killing Mrs. Sennett.There was testimony that Charles Sennett was involved in an affair, that he had incurred substantial debts, that he had taken out a large insurance policy on his wife, and that approximately one week after the murder, when the murder investigation started to focus on him as a suspect, Sennett committed suicide,” according to court documents.
May described the murder scene and investigation in an interview with AL.com on Wednesday.
One of the sheriff’s secretaries had initially fielded the call from Sennett, who was screaming, and she couldn’t understand what he was saying, said May, who then took the phone. After calming him down, he said, Sennett told him he had come home and found his wife dead.
“All we knew was a pastor’s wife had been killed in what had been a home invasion,” May said. Investigators spent several days at the crime scene and a few things didn’t seem right starting with the initial scene, he said.
May was one of the first to arrive and he said he couldn’t find any evidence of a pulse. But after rescue workers arrived, they announced they did find one heartbeat, May said. “He (Charles Sennett Sr.) almost fell when they said that” he said.
May said he rode to the hospital in the ambulance hoping Mrs. Sennett would say something. But she never did, and doctors declared her dead a short time later.
The scene within the home also appeared to be staged to look like a home invasion, May said.
And later May said he realized he had actually met Charles Sennett Sr. just weeks before the murder.
May said he had been working on another murder case – the shooting death of a service station owner near Cherokee – several weeks earlier. Investigators were in the store when he happened to look up and saw a rescue squad member (Sennett) who was following him around, he said.
May said he had to ask the man to leave, but he kept coming back inside the store. He said he speculated Sennett was trying to check out what investigators would look at in order to stage a crime scene.
The suspects’ names came up from a call to CrimeStoppers, May said. After that call, investigators got the pastor back in for an interview for “the better part of hour and he denied and denied,” he said.
Finally, Sennett got up to leave the interrogation room but stopped in the doorway when someone in the room wondered out loud whether they thought Sennett knew Kenny Smith, May said. “He (Sennett) went beet red,” he said.
Immediately after that interview Sennett went straight to the home by the church where his sons and their families had gathered, May said. “He admitted to them that he had an affair … (and) he was responsible for their mother’s death,” he said.
After telling his family, he walked outside to his old pickup truck, got in the front seat, and shot himself, said May, who rode to the hospital in the ambulance in hopes of getting Sennett to talk. He never responded and was declared dead at the hospital, he said.
After that, investigators were able to get a search warrant for Smith’s home and found a VCR that had come from the Sennett’s house, May said.
Smith and Parker both provided information about the death of Mrs. Sennett in interviews after Charles Sennett Sr.’s death, May said.
Parker was convicted and sentenced to death. He was executed in 2010. Williams was convicted and sentenced to life without parole.
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Related stories:
Alabama man sentenced to death over jury’s wish asks U.S. Supreme Court to stay execution
Federal judge dismisses lawsuit by Alabama death row inmate Kenneth Eugene Smith
Alabama sets execution in murder-for-hire of pastor’s wife, despite jury’s recommendation
Judge to hear arguments in case of Alabama death row inmate scheduled to die in November
Are your ancestors connected with Daniel Boone…
I have found several of mine that are. And now my daughter’s paternal side are as well. The sons in the Kerby line were neighbors and friends, and maybe more to Daniel Boone and his family.
And the lights came on in Sheffield…
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Messrs. J. A. May and C. B. Ashe Lease Light and Water Plants
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TUSCUMBIA, Jan. 8. An important deal for Sheffield, in which Mr. J. A. May, of Tuscumbia, is interested, was consummated several days ago.
Mr. J. A. May and Mr. C. B. Ashe, of Sheffield, have leased the property of Consolidated Water, Light & Power Company, of Sheffield, and will operate the electric light plant.
It is probable that Tuscumbia will have a telephone exchange of its own in the near future. The Citizen’s Telephone Company, of Florence, contemplates establishing an exchange in this city, which will also be connected with the Florence exchange. The Citizen’s Company has been contesting the field in Florence with the Bell Telephone Company for a year, and has many subscribers.[Source: Daily Mercury newspaper, published in Huntsville, Alabama, 9 Jan 1897, Page 3, Column 5]
James Hamilton Isbell…
was a dedicated local, national and international leader much honored and an Isbell relative.
He was in military intelligence. He was 48 years, 1 month, 19 days old at the time of his death.
His Birdwell and Isbell lineage follows:
>Rev. Levi Isbell and Sarah Birdwell
>>Elijah Miller Isbell and Jane Dowdy
>>>Wm Joseph Isbell and Annora Florence Hall
>>>>James Dolphus Isbell Sr and Jessie Lucille Payne
>>>>>James Dolphus Isbell Jr and Maggie Neal Cox
>>>>>>Tommy Eugene Isbell b. 6 Oct 1944 and m1 Sherry Walker
>>>>>>>James Hamilton Isbell b.Jan. 29, 1970 Huntsville, Alabama, married first: Lara Anne Bashore b. 22 Nov 1970 (artist, Huntsville); divorced; and married second to Jennifer, his widow.
Published in The Huntsville Times on Mar. 23, 2018
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The True Location of the RICE Cemetery is in Franklin County, Tennessee. The confusion is because the cemetery is located about one mile inside the Tennessee State line and the people who are Buried there are mostly from Jackson County Alabama. It is located in a large wildlife refuge mostly in franklin CountyTenn. so it is several miles away from any place or homes in Tennessee.
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REDSTONE ARSENAL, AL, UNITED STATES
04.09.2018
Story by Jason Cutshaw
U.S. Army Space and Missile Defense Command/Army Forces Strategic Command
REDSTONE ARSENAL, Alabama – A dedicated local, national and international leader was honored by his U.S. Army Space and Missile Defense Command/Army Forces Strategic Command team members during a memorial ceremony April 3.
Dr. James H. Isbell, who served as the USASMDC/ARSTRAT political and military affairs adviser since April 2014, passed away March 20.
“Everybody is here today because they admired, respected and in some cases loved James,” said Lt. Gen. James H. Dickinson, SMDC commanding general. “He made a very powerful impression to me. He was one of my most trusted advisers. Immediately, James established himself as a professional and as a person of trust. I can’t say enough good things about James,” he continued. “There isn’t anybody I know who could take complex issues that arise and figure out clear, practical solutions. When I think of James and what words may best describe him, they are: passionate, compassionate, devoted, loyal, exceptionally smart and a continual learner. He is a Soldier. He is a sailor. He is a gentleman, And I think everybody would agree in here, that he is a patriot.
“It is with great sadness, but fond memories, that we bid farewell to Dr. James Isbell,” Dickinson added. “May God bless you, James, and may God bless your wonderful family.”
Isbell was a native of Huntsville. Prior to joining SMDC, he spent 18 years conducting political and military research and analysis in support of the offices of the secretary of defense, the State Department and the department of the Army.
He served in the Army National Guard from 1993 to 1999 and earned his doctorate in 2002 from the University of Alabama.
In 2004, Isbell commissioned into the U.S. Navy Reserves as an intelligence officer, where he served until his passing. His Navy Reserve assignments include Navy Forces Central Command, the Defense Intelligence Agency’s Missile and Space Intelligence Center, and two tours in Afghanistan.
“All of the things he did dovetailed together and really made him a perfect selection to be the international and political and military affairs adviser for the Army Space and Missile Defense Command,” said Dr. John Fairlamb, former SMDC political and military adviser.
In the command, Isbell had the responsibility of ensuring missile treaty compliance for the Army and his duties included interacting with the Kwajalein Atoll and the Republic of the Marshall Islands, or RMI, leadership. Isbell worked to foster a positive relationship with the Marshallese government.
His recent efforts led to legislative protections regarding longstanding concerns in the RMI and the continuation of the Ri-Katak program at Kwajalein that allows Marshallese children to attend school with American children.
“Saying goodbye is very, very hard,” said James B. Johnson Jr., deputy to the SMDC commander. “One of the things about James that stands out to me is that he was the consumate professional. We could always count on James to provide sage advice, and he was passionate in his many endeavers as the command’s political and military affairs adviser.
“We spend a tremendous amount of time with our coworkers. In many respects our coworkers are like members of our family,” he continued. “We work together. We laugh together. We travel together; and we occassionally make each other mad, but the good times far outweigh the bad. With our coworkers we develop bonds and deep friendships, so losing our close friend is very hard.
“I would like thank Dr. Isbell for making a difference for our nation, for making a difference for this command, and he made a difference in my life,” Johnson added. “He will be greatly missed.”
During the ceremony, Dickinson presented Isbell’s family with the Department of the Army Meritorious Civilian Service Award for his service to the nation.
Also, the Republic of Marshall Island Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade John M. Silk presented Isbell with the Distinguished Foreign Service Award for advancing “the mutual defense and security relations and cooperation between the Republic of the Marshall Islands and the United States of America and has proved his worth as a representative of his country in areas important to the foreign, economic and political policies of both nations.” It added that at all times Isbell showed the calmness, clarity, dedication and judgment that are the characteristics of an outstanding political and military adviser, and a true friend of the Marshallese people.
Isbell is survived by his wife, Jennifer, and their four sons; Walker, Connor, Eli and Ethan.
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James Hamilton Isbell comes from a long line of distinguished patriots. His forefathers served in the Revolutionary War and all wars since. Ancestors from both sides took part in major historical matters, to include the Watauga Settlement.
Officer down…
Federal Prohibition Agent Irby U. Scruggs
United States Department of the Treasury – Internal Revenue Service – Prohibition Unit, U.S. Government
End of Watch Saturday, April 30, 1921
IRBY U. SCRUGGS
Federal Prohibition Agent Irby Scruggs was shot and killed following a raid on a still in Knox County, Tennessee.
As he and a sheriff’s deputy returned to Knoxville the deputy took offense at an order by Agent Scruggs that none of the seized liquor could be drunk. After Agent Scruggs told the deputy to put away a gun he carried on his lap the deputy shot him. Despite being mortally wounded, Agent Scruggs returned fire and killed the deputy.
Irby U Scruggs was the husband of Willie Fullerton, and the son of William P Scruggs 1840-1896 and wife Laura O Upshaw 15 Dec 1845-12 June 1879. Laura O Upshaw was the daughter of Lewis Green Upshaw 1785–1860 and Priscilla Menefee Laughlin 1811–1875 of Elkton, Giles County, Tennessee.
Irby and Willie Scruggs were the parents of Gaston Scruggs, Laura Scruggs, and Willia Scruggs.
A Conundrum of family history…
brothers, cousins, grandparents, fathers, uncles all with the same name.
Cousin Ray Isbell shared this article on two Isbell cousins with the same name in the same time period:
What would be the odds of finding two men, 1st cousins, same name, (their fathers were brothers), one Confederate, one Union, buried in the same Church cemetery. One received a Federal Pension, the Rebel a pension from the State of Tennessee. The “home-grown” Yank began the war as a Confederate. The one that stayed true to Dixie, probably died an “un-reconstructed” Johnny Reb. Both went through the Siege of Vicksburg, and returned to east Tennessee about the same time. Recently, while combining genealogy and Civil War, I discovered these men and my connection to them through my 4 x great-grandmother, and their cousin, Elizabeth Isbell Land.
Monroe County, like all of east Tennessee was bitterly divided during the Civil War. It also became a haven for bushwhackers, like John “Bushwhacker” Kirkland, John Denton, and others that in most cases, had deserted both sides. Bushwhacking continued there for at least five years after the war ended.
Union Veteran Pendelton Isbell’s headstone in Hopewell Baptist Cemetery
On Sept. 24, 1861, Company F, 62nd Tennessee Infantry was enrolled into Confederate Service. On 10/1/1862, Pendelton, (listed as Penitton) Isbell joined himself to this company. On July 4, 1863, the Confederate garrison at Vicksburg, Miss. was surrendered. Most of the Confederates were “paroled until exchanged” and allowed to return home. Pendelton was one of seven paroled east Tennesseans with the Isbell surname, probably all were either his cousins or brothers.
On August 1, 1864, Pendelton enlisted and mustered as a Private into Captain James L. Pearson’s Company D, Union 3rd Tennessee Mounted Infantry,at Loudon, Tennessee. The 3rd was one of several 90-day units formed in east Tennessee, many of their members being rebel deserters, organized to combat the lessening Confederate resistance, and bands of marauding guerrillas. By December, 1864, the war for this Pendelton Isbell ended. On July 28, 1890, he applied for a Federal pension. Following his death in 1896, his widow, Sarah Emaline, applied for a widow’s pension. He filed claim for his own personal horse in 1881, he used during his service. That said horse was his own private property; that he continued mounted upon said private horse, and continued to use him in the service until the 30th day of Nov 1864 when he was discharged as aforesaid. . . . when said horse was taken from the service by claimant . . . He now claims pay at the then legal rates for the use and risk of said private horse from the 25th day of July 1864, when he entered the service to the 30 day of November 1864 when said horse was taken from the service as aforesaid. . . He was mustered for the time for which he claims pay for use and risk of horse as aforesaid on Rolls at the following places On the 25 July 1864 at Loudon Tenn. . . and he hereby constitutes and appoints Robinson & Blackman of Madisonville Tenn his Attorneys.
Index card to his Union Veteran’s pension. (also contains his attorney’s signatures)
Confederate Veteran Pendelton Monroe Isbell applied for a Confederate Pension on October 15, 1901. He stated he was “almost 73 years old”, being born Nov.4, 1828, in Monroe County, Tennessee. He enlisted April 17, 1861 into Company B 3rd Tennessee Infantry, commanded by Colonel John Crawford Vaughn. “I was wounded in the battle of Tazwell, Tennessee, shot through the right leg with a minnie ball, four inches above the knee, also shot in the head above the left eye, causing loss of the left eye, and partial use of the right leg. He was attended to by Regimental Surgeon, Dr. A.C. Blevins, and detailed to other duties until he was well enough to do normal duty. I never asked for a discharge”. He surrendered and was paroled home, at Wytheville, Virginia, May, 1865. He said he “never took the Oath of Allegiance to the U.S. Government”, and wouldn’t “under any circumstances”.
Photos courtesy of Find-A-Grave sites maintained by Isbell family historian and my cousin Ray Isbell . Thanks Ray !
Source: https://civilwartalk.com/threads/a-recent-find-a-civil-war-believe-it-or-not.144206/
So, Menefee women were important,too…
Mildred Emily Menefee was born in 24 May in Jonesboro, Missouri. She was the daughter of Dr Buell Fountain Menefee and Flora Catherine Baker Menefee.
Mildred Emily Menefee descends from Revolutionary War Soldier, Jarrett Menefee. She became a Daughter of the American Revolution on Jarrett Menefee’s line back in
Jarrett Menefee was born 1721 in Spotsylvania County, Colony of Virginia. Jarrett Menefee died 7 March 1811 in Lincoln, Kentucky County of Virginia. He was the father of William Menefee, Jonas Menefee,
Jarrett Menefee gave service in Virginia with the rank of Private. He served under Captain Benjamin Logan.[3] He, sons, and other family members served to gain America’s Independence. They were awarded land warrants for their service, first in Kentucky County, Virginia.
In her own right, Mildred Emily Menefee Warlow, made her own contributions to the greater good of society during her long lifetime. She was 93 years of age at her death. She married John Franklin Wardlow and had but one child, John Wardlow.
1940 Federal Census record
- Name: Mildred Menefee
- Event Type: Census
- Event Date: 1940
- Event Place: Montgomery City, Montgomery Township, Montgomery, Missouri, United States
- Sex: Female
- Age: 25
- Marital Status: Single
- Race (Original): White
- Race: White
- Relationship to Head of Household (Original): Daughter
- Relationship to Head of Household: Daughter
- Birthplace: Missouri
- Birth Year (Estimated): 1915
- Last Place of Residence: Same House
- District: 70-16
- Family Number: 178
- Sheet Number and Letter: 8B
- Line Number: 52
- Affiliate Publication Number: T627
- Affiliate Film Number: 2131
- Digital Folder Number: 005460066
- Image Number: 00214
- Household Role Sex Age Birthplace
- Buell Menefee Head M 52 Missouri
- Flora Menefee Wife F 52 Missouri
- Mildred Menefee Daughter F 25 Missouri[2]
Daughter of Buell Fountain Menefee and Flora Baker
Wife of John Franklin Wardlow
Obituary WARDLOW-Mildred Menefee Wardlow, age 92 , died at her home in Villa Gardens Apartments on June 22, 2006. A Pasadena resident since 1952, Mildred was born in Jonesburg, Mo., May 24, 1914 to Dr. Buell Menefee and Flora Baker Menefee.
She attended the University of Missouri, where she served as Mortar Board president and was a member of the Alpha Phi sorority. She graduated with a BS and a BA in 1938. During undergraduate school, she worked as an actuary with the State of Missouri Insurance Department. Mildred was among the first female executives of IBM. She graduated from the IBM School, and worked there from 1939-1946.
After marrying and having a son, she returned to college, obtained a Masters from CSULA, and attended USC to complete her teaching credentials. She served as a counselor at John Muir High School (1954-1957) before going on to work at Pasadena City College. Mildred Wardlow started working at PCC in 1957. She was Dean of Administration, later appointed Vice President of Administration, and retired from that position in June of 1980. A fountain dedicated to Mildred Wardlow is located at the Community Skills Center of PCC.
Mildred married Col. John Franklin Wardlow, U.S. Army, on June 11, 1942. Their son, John Wardlow, was born Jan. 29,1947. A devoted wife and mother, Mildred was widowed Dec.30, 1972. She never remarried.
Mrs. Wardlow loved Pasadena, PCC, and was active in the community after her retirement. She belonged to the Women’s City Club, the Women’s Civic League, the Fine Arts Club and the Pasadena Arts Council.
In addition to having been widowed, Mildred was preceded in death by her beloved son John Wardlow (Jan. 29,1947-Dec. 27,1997) an attorney who graduated from USC, and who practiced law in Tallahassee, FL.
She is survived by her adoring daughter-in-law, Susan Wardlow Anderson, Susan’s husband, Tom Anderson, and a host of very dear friends. A very good woman, Mildred will be missed by all who knew her. Cabot and Sons Funeral Home are handling her final arrangements. Her ashes are to be scattered at sea. A celebration of her life will be held at Villa Gardens, 842 E. Villa St., at Villa Vista. 2:30 pm, Wednesday, June 28.
Sources
- MEMORIAL ID 157153337
- Citing this Record: “United States Census, 1940,” database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:K77D-6BL : accessed 7 January 2018), Mildred Menefee in household of Buell Menefee, Montgomery City, Montgomery Township, Montgomery, Missouri, United States; citing enumeration district (ED) 70-16, sheet 8B, line 52, family 178, Sixteenth Census of the United States, 1940, NARA digital publication T627. Records of the Bureau of the Census, 1790 – 2007, RG 29. Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, 2012, roll 2131
- Collins History of Kentucky , Volume 1, P 12
Sometime inlaws are outlaws…
or something to that effect.
Samuel Boulds Barron who was born 16 Oct 1808 in Greene County, Georgia and died 8 June 1886 in Nacogdoches, Nocogdoches, Texas married Phoebe C Barber born 1818 and died 1900. They had a number of children. Their known chidlren are:Sarah Elizabeth Barron 1838–1924, Mahala Ann Barron 1843–1910, Samuel B Barron 1844–1932, Tillitha Barron born 1845, J T Barron 1845–1880, Phineas Barron 1854–1939, Marcus LaFayette Fate Barron 1857–194, Louisa J Barron 1859–1891.
While Samuel B Barron have descendants that were residents and natives of the Shoals area, it is Samuel Boulds Barron’s daughter Mahala Ann Barron who married William Wilson Walker that is of interest at present.With all the bravery in the Revolutionary War, the Indian Wars, the War of Northern Aggression, and the Vietnam Conflict that Barron men fought in and Barron wives and families suffered through, it is the infamous that seem to catch interest.
Mahala Ann Barron was born about 1843 in Nacogdoches, Texas. Her parents were Samuel Boulds Barron and Phoebe C Barber. She married William Wilson “W.W.” Walker on March 18, 1886. They divorced on March 24, 1910.
They had several children:
- Charles Samuel Walker (1866 – 1956)
- Mary Elizabeth Walker Toms (1869 – 1930)
- Susan “Susie” Virginia Walker Muckleroy (1876 – 1966)
- Belle Zora Walker Briggs (1879 – 1962)
- Walter Willis Walker (1880 – 1960)
- Cumie Talitha Walker Barrow (1874 – 1942)
- William Alexander Walker
Mahala Ann Barron Walker had a daughter named Cumie Talitha Walker. She was born 21 Nov 1874 in Nacogdoches, Texas. Cumie Talitha had siblings by the names of Charles Walker and Mary Elizabeth Waker Toms. Cumie Talitha Walker married Henry Basil Barrow. Cumie Talitha Walker Barrow died 14 Aug 1942 om Dallas, Texas.
Henry Basil Barrow and Cumie Talitha Walker were the parents of Elvin Wilson Barrow, Artie Adelle Barrow Keys, Marvin Ivan Barrow Sr, Nellie May Barrow Francis, Leon C Barrow, and Lillian Marie Barrow Scoma. And, they were the parents of Clyde Chestnut Barrow.
Clyde Chestnut Barrow was born on 24 March 1909, in Telico, Texas. He was the fifth of seven children born into a family lacking in worldly riches but a close-knit farming family. His family’s farm failed due to drought and they eventually moved to Dallas, Texas. Clyde Chestnut Barrow, who was a small and unassuming boy, attended school until the age of 16 and had ambitions of becoming a musician, learning to play both the guitar and saxophone.
However, under the influence of his older brother, Buck, Clyde soon turned to a life of crime. Beginning with petty thievery, then graduating to stealing cars, Clyde soon escalated his activities to armed robbery. By late 1929, at the age of 20, Clyde was already a fugitive from the law, wanted by authorities for several robberies.
And then he joined with Bonnie.
Bonnie and Clyde
In January 1930, Clyde met a 19-year-old waitress named Bonnie Parker through a mutual friend and was immediately smitten. But after spending much time together during the following weeks, their budding romance was interrupted when Clyde was arrested and convicted on various counts of auto theft.
Once in prison, Clyde’s thoughts turned to escape. By this time, he and Bonnie had fallen deeply in love, and Clyde was overtaken by heartache. Sharing his sentiments, much to the dismay of her mother, a lovesick Bonnie was more than willing to help the man she called her soulmate, and soon after his conviction she smuggled a gun into the prison for him. On March 11, 1930, Clyde used the weapon to escape with his cellmates, but they were captured a week later. Clyde was then sentenced to 14 years of hard labor, eventually being transferred to Eastham State Farm, where he was repeatedly sexually assaulted by another inmate.
While Clyde was serving his sentence, he and Bonnie began a passionate correspondence with each other, and once again, Clyde’s thoughts turned to escape. Hoping to be relieved of his grueling work detail and paroled, Clyde had his big toe and part of another toe cut off in an “accident.’ (As a result, he would walk with a permanent limp and be forced to drive in his socks.) Unbeknownst to Clyde, his desperate scheme was unnecessary—his mother had already convinced the judge in his case to grant him parole. He was released two weeks later, in February 1932. Source: Clyde Barrow Biography.com
It did not end well for Bonnie and Clyde, even when the shootout happened and they were killed, they were so famous that souvenir seekers ravaged the scene, cutting one of Clyde’s ears for a take home souvenir. They wanted to be buried together or side by side, but their wish was not granted as they were buried separately.
Another Menefee man to be proud of…
Richard Hickman Menefee (December 4, 1809 – February 20, 1841) was a U.S. Representative from Kentucky. Due to his oratory skill, he was dubbed “the young Patrick Henry of the West.” He was presumed the successor to Henry Clay as leader of the Whig Party until his death at age thirty-one.
Menefee received a meager education in his early life. A dispute with his stepfather caused him to leave home in his mid-teens. He worked as a teacher to support himself and pay to finish his education. He graduated from Transylvania University and studied law. In 1831, he was appointed Commonwealth’s Attorney for Kentucky’s eleventh district and was elected to the Kentucky House of Representatives the following year.
In 1836, Menefee was elected to the House of Representatives. His best known speech in that body urged restraint in the Caroline affair with the British. His reputation, and that of fellow Kentuckian John J. Crittenden, were tarnished due to their involvement in a duel between Representatives William J. Graves and Jonathan Cilley in which the latter was mortally wounded. He did not stand for re-election following his term in office and returned to his legal practice. In 1841, he was elected to the U.S. Senate, but died five days later before he could take office. Menifee County, Kentucky, despite the spelling discrepancy, is named in his honor[1]
Eulogy given by Thomas F Marshall at the death of Hon Richard Hickman Menefee:
- Hon. Richard H Menefee, the statesman and lawyer, in honor of when Menifee County was named, was born near Owingsville, Bath County, Kentucky, in the year 1810(1809). In early life he taught a school, to supply the means for obtaining a profession.His success at the bar was rapid and brilliant. He was barely eligible when he was elected to represent the county of Montgomery in the Kentucky legislature. In that body he served terms, 1835, ’37 and early established a character for ability which spread his name through the state. At twenty-seven years of age, as the Whig candidate he was elected to congress by 234 majority over Judge Richard French, one of the most popular and astute Democratic politicians of the day, and in a district where the latter had been elected two years before, by an overwhelming majority. He served but one term, 1837-39. His efforts on the floor of the house, bearing the impress of high genius and commanding talent, soon placed him in the front rank of debaters, at a time when congress was remarkable for the number of its able men. At the close of his term of service he removed to Lexington, as a larger field for the practice of his profession. Business flowed in upon him, and he was rapidly amassing a fortune which would have enabled him to re-enter public life, and accomplish those ardent desires cherished form his early boyhood. His career was prematurely checked by his death, Feb. 20, 1841, when only 31 years of age. Over the whole state his death cast a gloom. It has been the fortune of but few men, of the same age, to achieve a reputation so splendid. Born in obscurity, and forced to struggle in early life against an array of depressing influences sufficient to crush any common spirit, he had rapidly but surely attained an eminence which fixed upon him the eyes of all America, as one of our most promising statesmen,while at home his view of public policy were known to be at once liberal, comprehensive; and profound, he was great as a lawyer and greater as a statesmen.
- The eulogy of Thomas F. Marshall upon Mr Menefee’s life and services —
the tribute of genius to genius, of brilliant but erratic genius to genius still more brilliant but self-poised and commanding — is one of the most graceful and eloquent in the whole field of panegyric literature.[1]
Richard Hickman Menefee’s son Richard Jouett Menefee contributed to the content of the book that honors his father.
Hon Richard H Menefee’s death date is given as 20 and 21 Feb 1841. Since his eulogy gives his death date as 20 Feb 1841, that is the date used here.
Let me tell you bout the birds and the bees and the flowers and the trees, and a thing called love…
A beautiful description of mother…
by Dr James Martin Peebles (1822-1922). Nancy Brown Peebles’ eldest son described his parents in detail in 1911 when he was 90 years old. The description will follow verbatim:
My mother lived in a log house, brought up seven children, did her own work, spun the flax for the household linen and helped raise the flocks from whose backs the wool was clipped with her own hands. She fashioned into cloth, and in turn cut and made into clothes for her family. At night we were lighted by the feeble but kindly glow of candles dipped by her own hand. When we were sick, the medicine came from her herbs, drying in the bunches over the fireplace, where also hung the red peppers and the dried apples on strings, and the ears of corn, the old flint-lock rifle of Revolution fame, and the powder horn, and in one side of the fireplace in a niche of its own was the oven where the many loaves were baked to feed the family. There was a room that was musical many hours, now and then, with the whirl of spindles and the shuffle of the handloom, and mother was here spinning and weaving. These were but part of her duties, as I look back, and not an hour of her long life – she lived to be eighty-eight- but her hands were occupied. She worked from dawn to dusk, and on Sunday with a sprig of spearmint and a rose in her hand she went to church and sang in the choir. The neighbors used to call her Aunt Nancy, and when a child was born they sent for Aunt Nancy, and it was Aunt Nancy that laid out the dead. In one corner she had a cabinet of simples, her old-fashioned remedies for the sick. She was strong in her faith, and one of her favorite hymns was, “While Shepherds Watched.” I can, in imagination, still hear her strong inflections as she emphasized important words, like “angel” and “glory.” She sang as though she could catch a glimpse of the other shore. And as she stood in the choir, with her little tuning fork to her ear, under her leadership the choir broke into such words as these:
-
- While shepherds watched their flocks by night
- All seated on the ground,
- The a-n-g-e-l of the Lord came down
- And g-l-o-r-y shone around
My mother was a strong noble character, severe but kindly. She raised five sons and two daughters, and brought them up in the fear of God. Misfortunes taught her many hard lessons! Father and mother, in temperament and to an extent in ambitions, were the direct opposite. Mother from her early youth had been taught to command, and she broke the horse on which she afterwards rode; and when she was a schoolteacher, she made her boys and girls mind the rules, or be punished. Father was a militia-captain, an easy-going, good-natured, honest jovial man, who loved pleasant companionships, and who sometimes drank more than was good for him; and so made bad bargains and at last his land slipped away. Mother and the growing children made another home, and late in life found them again independent, under their own roof-tree.
Source: Hours With Famous Americans, Little Books About Big Men * Life Portraits of Leaders Whose Creative work Has Made for National Progress * In this number – Dr James M Peebles – Being Peculiarly the Ideas and Observations of John Hubert Grusel,Peebles Publishing Company, Highland Park, Los Angeles, CA, 1911, unnumbered
Tishomngo, does that name sound familiar?
Captain Tisho Mingo
Captain Tisho Mingo was a veteran warrior of the Choctaw, departed this life on the 5th inst. Although but little known beyond the limits of his nation, yet he was a man that has seen wars and fought battles—stood high among his own people as a brave and good man. He served under General Wayne in the Revolutionary War, for which he received a pension from the Government of the United States; and in the late war with England, he served under General Jackson, and did many deeds of valor. He had fought in nine battles of the United States. As a friend he has served the white man faithfully. His last words were: “When I am gone, beat the drum and fire the guns.”
Hang down your head Tom Dooley…
Life Story of James Martin Isbell
 |
Colonel James Martin Isbell was a noted local historian and author. James Martin Isbell was the son of Thomas Isbell and Lucinda Petty.James Martin Isbell was a grandson of Thomas Isbell and Discretion Howard Isbell.
James Martin Isbell married Sarah Louise Horton, daughter of David Eagles Horton and Sarah Jane Dula Horton. Sarah Louise Horton was the granddaughter of Nathan and Elizabeth Eagles Horton on her paternal side. She was the granddaughter of William S. Dula and Theodosia Beasley Dula on her maternal side.
Sarah Louise Horton Isbell was a second cousin of Tom Dula (Dooley) who was tracked down and captured by Colonel James Martin Isbell for the murder of Laura Foster. Colonel James Martin Isbell had previously led the search which located the body of Laura Foster. The song about Tom Dooley has been revived a couple of times over the decades, the most famous version being sung by The Kingston Trio; it was entitled Hang Down Your Head Tom Dooley. The ballad was number one for one week in 1958. It has been re-recorded by many singers since.
Colonel James Martin Isbell was a second cousin of Col. Thomas Charles Land (1828-1912), who wrote the Ballad of Tom Dula (also known as “Hang Down Your Head, Tom Dooley”), and his brother Linville Land who made the coffins of both Laura Foster and Tom Dula.
Tom Dula was a grand-nephew of the John Dula who got into a brawl with Thomas Isbell, grandfather of Colonel James Martin Isbell, on28 November28, 1796, during which Dula bit off Tom Isbell’s earlobe.
Ballad of Tom Dula by John Foster West: “Col. James M. Isbell, if we may believe the records, was more responsible for finding Laura Foster’s body…and…the prosecution of Tom Dula than any other individual. Col. Isbell was one of the aristocrats of Happy Valley. He was the great-grandson of Benjamin Howard…”
Colonel James Martin Isbell is cited as an authority in many local histories, pioneer North Carolina and Virginia accounts as well as several family histories. He is cited throughout records and newspaper articles of the Tom Dula murder trial, consistently referred to as Col. James M. Isbell.
“Col. James M. Isbell’s grandfather(sic), Martin, told him that Daniel Boone used to live six miles below James M. Isbell’s present home near the bank of the Yadkin river, on a little creek now known as Beaver Creek, one mile from where it flows into the Yadkin river, near Holman’s ford. The Boone house was in a little swamp and canebrake surrounding the point of a ridge, with but one approach—that by the ridge. The swamp was in the shape of a horse-shoe, with the point of the ridge projecting into it. The foundations of the chimney are still there, and the cabin itself has not been gone more than 52 years. Alfred Foster, who owned the land, showed Col. Isbell the cabin, which was still there during his boyhood, and he remembered how it looked. His grandmother, the wife of Benjamin Howard, knew Boone well as he often stayed with her father, Benjamin Howard, at the mouth of Elk creek, now Elkville.”[2]
“COL. JAMES M. ISBELL. According to the statement made by this gentleman in May 1909, Benjamin Howard, his (great)grandfather, owned land near the village of Boone and used to range his stock in the mountains surrounding that picturesque village. He built a cabin of logs in front of what is now the Boys’ Dormitory of the Appalachian Training School for the accommodation of himself and his herders whenever he or they should come from his home on the headwaters of the Yadkin, at Elkville. Among the herders was an African slave named Burrell. When Col. Isbell was a boy, say, about 1845, Burrell was still alive, but was said to have been over 100 years old. He told Col. Isbell that he had billoted Daniel Boone across the Blue Ridge to the Howard cabin in the first trip Boone ever took across the mountains.”[3]
Footnote 5: In the same book is the statement of James M. Isbell to J.P.A. in May, 1909, at latter’s home.[4]
Footnote 6: It [meaning the cabin of Benjamin Howard] “could still be seen, a few years ago, at the foot of a range of hills some seven and a half miles above Wilkesboro, in Wilkes county.” Thwaites’ “Daniel Boone,” p.78.
1885: The LENOIR TOPIC, 1(?) October 1885, p.4, printed a letter from W.E. White about Daniel Boone’s life in the Yadkin Valley area, which included, “Col. James Isbell, of King’s Creek township(,) could perhaps say something concerning Godfrey Isbell and Pendleton Isbell who were pioneers and also soldiers of Col. Cleveland’s command.” Godfrey Isbell had been bondsman at the marriage of Col. James Isbell’s grandfather Thomas Isbell to Discretion Howard.
Daniel Boone: Master of the Wilderness (1939), by John Bakeless, p. 438, footnote 32.2 gives a footnote citation as follows about the cabin and Burrell’s account of it: “Burrell, the old slave, told the story to Col. James Martin Isbell, of King’s Creek, N. C. Col. Isbell’s grandmother, Mrs. Jordan Councill, daughter of Burrell’s owner, verified the story. She had herself known Daniel Boone.[5]
Mrs. Jordan Councill was the former Sarah Howard, sister of James Martin Isbell’s grandmother. Mrs Sarah Howard Councill was Col.James Martin Isbell’s great-aunt.
Thomas Isbell and Lucinda Petty Isbell household is listed in the 1850 Federal Census record for Caldwell County, North Carolina. The census shows the parents of James Isbell, age 13. According to the census, the parents were Thomas Isbell, b. circa 1800 in N.C. and Luncinda Isbell, b. circa 1811 in N.C.
- Name: Thomas Isbell
- Age: 50
- Estimated birth year: abt 1800
- Birth Place: North Carolina
- Gender: Male
- Home in 1850 (City,County,State): Kings Creek, Caldwell, North Carolina
- Household Members: Name Age
- Thomas Isbell 50 *
- Lucinda Isbell 39 *
- James Isbell 13 *
- Louisa Isbell 9
- Cornelia Isbell 1[6]
Marriage:
- Name: James M. Isbell
- Event Type: Marriage
- Event Date: 01 Mar 1857
- Event Place: , Caldwell, North Carolina, United States
- Gender: Male
- Marital Status: Married
- Spouse’s Name: Sarah Louisa Horton
- Spouse’s Gender: Female
- Reference ID: V. 1-5 p19
- GS Film Number: 000590352
- Digital Folder Number: 007613706[7]
Military Service during the War Between the States
James M. Isbell was Captain of Company A, 22nd N.C. Regiment. Three sons of John and Frances Knight Land (James, Thomas, & John) served under him until he was wounded and discharged. He was also a witness in Tom Land’s Confederate pension application, filed in east Tennessee.
- Name: James M Isbell
- Residence: Caldwell County, North Carolina
- Age at Enlistment: 23
- Enlistment Date: 30 Apr 1861
- Rank at enlistment: 2nd Lieut
- State Served: North Carolina
- Survived the War?: Yes
- Service Record: Commissioned an officer in Company A, North Carolina 22nd :Infantry Regiment on 30 Apr 1861.
- Mustered out on 15 Jul 1861.
- Enlisted in Company A, North Carolina 22nd Infantry
- Regiment on 09 Aug 1861.
- Promoted to Full Captain on 31 May 1862.
- Promoted to Full 1st Lieutenant on 01 May 1862.
- Mustered out on 13 Oct 1862.
Civic Duty
1864 – James Martin Isbell was a member of the North Carolina Senate for the 46th Senatorial District
1870 Federal Census:
- Name: James M Isbell
- Event Type: Census
- Event Year: 1870
- Event Place: North Carolina, United States
- Gender: Male
- Age: 32
- Race: White
- Race (Original): W
- Birth Year (Estimated): 1837-1838
- Birthplace: North Carolina
- Page Number: 2
- Household ID: 16
- Line Number: 17[8]
- Household Role Sex Age Birthplace
- James M Isbell M 32 North Carolina
- Sarah L Isbell F 31 North Carolina
- John Isbell M 10 North Carolina
- Mary V Isbell F 8 North Carolina
- Thomas Isbell M 6 North Carolina[9]
Death of Mary Virginia Isbell:
- Name: Mary Virginia Isbell
- Event Type: Death
- Event Date: 07 Feb 1940
- Event Place: Lenoir, Caldwell, North Carolina
- Birth Year: 1861
- Burial Date: 08 Feb 1940
- Cemetery: Isbell
- Residence Place: Lenoir, NC
- Gender: Female
- Age: 78
- Marital Status: Single
- Race (Original): White
- Occupation: None
- Birth Date: 06 Oct 1861
- Birthplace: Nc
- Father’s Name: J M Isbell
- Father’s Birthplace: Nc
- Mother’s Name: Sarah Horton
- Mother’s Birthplace: Nc
- Reference ID: fn 2164 cn 279
- GS Film number: 1943179[10]
Death of daughter Sarah Louise Isbell:
- Name: Sarah Louise Setzer
- Event Type: Death
- Event Date: 18 Aug 1955
- Event Place: Morganton, Burke, N. C.
- Birth Year: 1875
- Burial Date: 20 Aug 1955
- Burial Place: Caldwell Co., N. C.
- Cemetery: Grandin Bapt.
- Gender: Female
- Age: 80
- Marital Status: Married
- Race (Original): White
- Occupation: Seamstress
- Birth Date: 10 May 1875
- Birthplace: Caldwell Co., N. C.
- Father’s Name: James Martin Isbell
- Mother’s Name: Sarah Louisa Horton
- Reference ID: v 18A cn 18416
- GS Film number: 1927217[11]
Death of daughter Sarah Frances Isbell:
- Name: Sarah Frances Thomas
- Event Type: Death
- Event Date: 28 Sep 1964
- Event Place: Lenoir, Caldwell, North Carolina
- Birth Year: 1873
- Burial Date: 29 Sep 1964
- Burial Place: Caldwell County, North Carolina
- Cemetery: Grandin Baptist Cemetery
- Residence Place: Lenoir, Caldwell, North Carolina
- Address: 208 Vance Street
- Gender: Female
- Age: 91
- Marital Status: Widowed
- Race (Original): white
- Occupation: Housewife, Ret.Teacher
- Birth Date: 03 Feb 1873
- Birthplace: Caldwell County, North Carolina
- Father’s Name: James M. Isbell
- Mother’s Name: Sarah Louise Horton
- Spouse’s Name: J. W. Thomas
- Reference ID: v 27A cn 27083
- GS Film number: 1953510[12]
James M. Isbell and Sarah Louise Horton Isbell are still head of household in the 1910 Census for Kings Creek, Caldwell County, North Carolina. They still have some children residing with them.[13]
His wife, Sarah Horton Isbell, died in Jan. 1919 and the death certificate stated she was a widow.
The original memorial created by Autumn on Find-A-Grave states:
- Burial:
- James Martin Isbell
- Isbell Cemetery (uncertain as to the location)
- His wife’s death certificate stated burial at Isbell Cemetery.
(Location of the Isbell Cemetery was probably at the site of the Isbell plantation.)
The joint tombstone of Colonel James Martin Isbell and wife Saray Horton Isbell’s grave is at Grandin Baptist Church Cemetery.
Biography written by Carolyn Murray Greer 13 Sep 2017
Sources
- ↑ Find A Grave Memorial# 52594193
- ↑ Western North Carolina: A History (1730-1913) By John Preston Arthur,1914), p.81
- ↑ Western North Carolina: A History (1730-1913) By John Preston Arthur,1914), p.82
- ↑ Western North Carolina: A History (1730-1913) By John Preston Arthur,1914), p.95
- ↑ “Trail of Daniel Boone,” Skyland Magazine, by John P Arthur, 1:652 (S 1914)
- ↑ 1850 United States Federal Census Record, Kings Creek, Caldwell, North Carolina
- ↑ Citing this Record: “North Carolina, County Marriages, 1762-1979 ,” database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:FZ1Z-X25 : 22 December 2016), James M. Isbell and Sarah Louisa Horton, 01 Mar 1857; citing , Caldwell, North Carolina, United States, p. V. 1-5 p19, Office of Archives and History, Division of Archives and Records. State Archive of North Carolina and various county Register of Deeds; FHL microfilm 590,352
- ↑ The U.S. National Archives and Records Administration (NARA), Publication Number: M593, GS Film number: 000552626, Digital Folder Number: 004277203, Image Number: 00052
- ↑ Citing this Record: “United States Census, 1870,” database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MW8H-C12 : 12 April 2016), James M Isbell, North Carolina, United States; citing p. 2, family 16, NARA microfilm publication M593 (Washington D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.); FHL microfilm 552,626
- ↑ Citing this Record: “North Carolina Deaths, 1931-1994,” database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:FPK8-Q9F : 17 July 2017), J M Isbell in entry for Mary Virginia Isbell, 07 Feb 1940; citing Lenoir, Caldwell, North Carolina, fn 2164 cn 279, State Department of Archives and History, Raleigh; FHL microfilm 1,943,179
- ↑ Citing this Record: “North Carolina Deaths, 1931-1994,” database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:FPDY-DBC : 17 July 2017), James Martin Isbell in entry for Sarah Louise Setzer, 18 Aug 1955; citing Morganton, Burke, N. C., v 18A cn 18416, State Department of Archives and History, Raleigh; FHL microfilm 1,927,217
- ↑ Citing this Record: “North Carolina Deaths, 1931-1994,” database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:FG1X-8VG : 18 July 2017), James M. Isbell in entry for Sarah Frances Thomas, 28 Sep 1964; citing Lenoir, Caldwell, North Carolina, v 27A cn 27083, State Department of Archives and History, Raleigh; FHL microfilm 1,953,510
- ↑ 1910 United States Federal Census, Kings Creek, Caldwell County, North Carolina
The Tragic Death of little Grace Arrants, adopted daughter of Estelle Peebles Arrant….
Little Grace Arrants, the adopted daughter of Frank H Arrants and wife Estelle Peebles Arrants was born 9 October 1915, but did not live to reach her eighth birthday. She perished in the tragedy of the Cleveland School Fire 17 May 1923. [1]
ENTIRE FAMILIES PERISH AS PARENTS AND CHILDREN BATTLE TO REACH EXITS.
MANY LEAP FROM ROOF WHEN OVERTURNING OF A LAMP ON STAGE AT ENTERTAINMENT PRECIPITATES FIRE AND MAD PANIC.
SOUTH CAROLINA SCHOOL HOUSE FUNERAL PYRE FOR COMMUNITY.
Camden, S. C., May 18 — Seventy-four persons, many of them school children, lost their lives last night in a ghastly fire which swept through a country school house six miles south of here.
They were burned, suffocated and trampled to death in a mad, terrified scramble for the one exit that led from the top floor of the flimsy wooden structure.
Death List Expected To Grow. Perhaps a score of others are so badly burned they may die, and many who were successful in their frenzied dash for the stairway are suffering from injuries or varying degrees of seriousness. The terrible tragedy occurred at what is known as the Cleveland School. Those who escaped today told the horror details of a night of horror. Between 150 and 200 persons were gathered in the school house for graduation exercises. The school house was of the old fashioned country, wooden type, with a stairway in the rear and lighted only with kerosene lamps, located in a comparatively isolated community with no other houses or building nearby. The audience was made up of fathers, mothers and children, the latter dressed in their “Sunday best” for the biggest community event of the year. About 10:00 P. M. after most of the exercises had been completed and the superintendent of schools was presenting the ribbon-bound diplomas to the graduates of the eighth grade, there was a terrific explosion. It came from a smoky kerosene lamp swinging in the rear of the hall from the ceiling. Burning oil was scattered over the back part of the big square room and flames appeared instantaneously, catching readily at the dry wood. The only staircase was in the rear and almost before those in the room realized what had happened escape was virtually cut off. The flames immediately surrounded the stairway.
Leap From Windows. Those in the rear of the room dashed through the blinding smoke and jumped from the windows to safety below. Those nearest the platform and in the front seats of the hall were not so fortunate. With no windows from the platform and the smoke and confusion growing worse every second, there resulted a mad, terrified scramble for the one hope — the stairs. It was sheer panic and it paid the usual price of panic. Women and children, gay in their white graduation costumes were knocked down and trampled under foot ant the interior of the hall became in a few minutes a screaming, milling mass of horror-stricken people, intent upon but one thing — escape. Some of those who escaped said later the doors of the auditorium “opened the wrong way,” and that a score of persons got jammed against a closed door and thus held up escape for many.
Warning Ignored. The Superintendent of Schols[sic], on the stage with diplomas in his arms, made a futile attempt to stem the tide of panic. He shouted that all could get out safely, if they took their time, but his voice was lost in the screams of the women and the children. The superintendent and those of the graduating class, being furthest from the stairway, are believed to have perished. The flames spread through the dry wooden building with almost unbelievable speed. Within a few moments after the explosion the whole rear portion was blazing high, and the flames, fanned by a stiff wind, began to eat into the flooring.
70 In Inferno. Then, the second floor collapsed and down into that raging inferno of fire and burning embers went all who were left — established at about 70 persons. The first of hose who escaped by jumping out of the windows dashed across fields for the nearest farm houses for telephones by which to summon aid. Practically the whole countryside was at the school house, however, and some houses were locked. Telephones are not many any way, in the community. Camden finally was notified and chemical fire apparatus was sent on the run. When it arrived it was too late — the school house was a mass of burning embers, smoking and black — the funeral pyre of half this little community. When the Camden firemen arrived they looked upon the mass of ruins around which stood weeping mothers, frantic fathers and wailing children, looking for their loved ones. There were a score of persons lying groaning on the ground, suffering from broken limbs and fractures suffered in leaping from the windows.
Night Of Terror. The darkness was lighted only by the ruddy glow of the smouldering fire and in the intense heat and amid confusion the work of finding out who had escaped and who had died continued throughout the night. Dawn this morning found a wearied, blackened crowd on men working feverishly. At 8 o’clock they had succeeded in pulling 74 bodies from the ruins. The work of identification has not been completed because of the confusion and the stunned condition of those who escaped. Several whole families, however, have been wiped out. “There was no one to blame,” said the chief of police here. “It all happened so quickly and the panic was natural.” All of the victims were either graduates, students of the little school or parents and friends.[2]
Sources
- Grace Arrants’ name appears on a list taken from the plaque on the memorial on the Site of the Cleveland School
- The Syracuse Herald New York, 18 May 1923
Thomas Lewellyn Looney: tried and true pioneer…
Thomas Lewellyn Looney was born about 1718 on the Isle of Man. He was the oldest son of Robert Looney and Elizabeth Llewellyn.He immigrated to Pennsylvania with his parents and into Virginia when they moved to Virginia circa 1740. He passed away about 1760.[1]
Thomas Looney and Jane Harmon’s marriage is acknowledged and their birth dates given in the Huntsville History Collection. It reads, “Thomas LOONEY was born 1718, and died 1755. He married Jane HARMON. [2]
Thomas Lewellyn Looney and wife Margaret Jane Harmon, who married circa 1742 had children, one was Mary Looney. Mary Looney was born 1742 at Washington, Augusta County, Virginia.[3] Mary Looney married in 1759 to George Birdwell in Stafford, Stafford, Virginia, USA. Mary Looney Birdwell died 1781 in Sullivan County, Tennessee.
A second daughter, Louisa Looney was born about 1745 in Augusta County, Virginia.
Thomas was the first of the Looney brothers named in the 1742 muster roll of Augusta County, thus is designation as the oldest son. He obtained 400 acres in what would become Abb’s Valley that was named after his brother, Absalom Looney. Thomas was reported as having settled there by 1754 but that is uncertain given other information.[4]
Named on the roll in Capt George Robinson’s Company of Militia during the time of the Revolutionary War for the commonwealth of Virginia was Thomas Looney. Also, named in the same company was Robert Looney, Daniel Looney, and Adam Looney.[5]
The story of an early demise for Thomas Lewellyn Looney were very much presumed. There were probate papers for his estate filed on more than one occasion of his presumed death, but never acted upon by the courts. It is often reported that he was killed by indians in 1746, but he was much alive until 1760.
Thomas Looney was reported killed during an attack by Shawnee Indians who raided the settlement in early 1746. There was a petition on behalf of Margaret Lundey [Looney] that informed the court that her clothes had been taken by David Logan, Constable on attachment vs. her deceased husband Thomas Lundey [Looney] as suit of Daniel Harriss, be returned.[6] Since Lundey is not a name that appears in any of the printed abstracts of Augusta County, the correct name must have been Looney.[7]
Thomas Looney was appointed road work in November 1746 in court documents. The road work traversed “from Adam Harmon’s to the north branch of Roan Oak.” That would be pretty difficult for a dead man to accomplish. Men in the day would go on long hunting expeditions and would not return home for long periods of time. That might explain why court papers were filed presuming Thomas Looney’s death.
In the fall of 1760 there was a conflict with Shawnee at the Little River. It has been named the Battle of Little River. There was a large band of Shawnee who surprised and fell upon a Dutch family. The family had delayed the call for everyone to come inside the fort, actually there was an order for the entrance into the fort. They did not need the order.
The Shawnee killed some of the family and captured a Dutch woman, took property among which were horses and cooking vessels. They then headed in the direction of Little River.
Captain Henry Harman, brother of Margaret Jane Harman Looney, and his milita went into hot pursuit. Among the soldiers of his militia were Margaret Jane Harman Looney’s husband, Thomas Lewellyn Looney and David Lusk.
The Shawnees had stopped where there may have been cover by the tall sedge grass, cooked a meal in the stolen vessels and were gleeful in their enjoyment of the meal of which they were partaking.
Knowing the make up and willpower of the militia that served under him, he chose Thomas Looney and David Lusk to place in the rear. Thomas Looney and David Lusk were ‘tried and true’ soldiers that held his trust. He placed them in the rear to rally and bring the soldiers in should the militia falter; Looney and Lusk were told they would be at his back at first fire should the militia falter.
Captain Harman acted as if a vidette and was creeping ever so close to the feasting of the Shawnee party as a tall Shawnee bent over and sopped his bread in the food. Upon rising, Captain Harman fired a well aimed bullet and the Shawnee’s back bent as if an elbow. The Shawnee party sprang into quick action, positioning themselves behind trees and firing back at Captain Harman who was also positioned behind a tree.
Suddenly, Captain Harman felt a hand on his shoulder. He turned and there smiling back at him were Thomas Lewellyn Looney and David Lusk, his ‘tried and true’ comrades in battle. A lot battle ensued with splinters from the gunfire of the Shawnee becoming embedded in their hair. The splinters were not picked out until they returned to the safety of the fort; more work lie ahead for them.[8]
Captain Henry Harman questioned the Dutch woman they had recaptured from the Shawnee as to the number in the party of the Shawnee. He first questioned her in English and she did not answer. He then questioned her in the Dutch language and she replied there were thirty.
Then at the fire of Thomas Lewellyn Looney’s own gun that brought down an approaching Shawnee, he heeded the instruction of his Captain by “…aim like you are shooting at an old buck ” and the shot felled the Shawnee. The others in the militia unit came forth. The battle continued furiously until the Shawnee who had seven felled by the militia, escaped into the tall sedge grass in retreat.
The probate record for Thomas Looney was published on 19 Nov 1760 in Augusta County, Virginia.[9] Another source for this information states that David Looney was made administrator of Thomas Looney’s estate on the same date. At the same time, David Looney was appointed administrator of Daniel Looney and Peter Looney’s estates. The reports of his estate being brought into the legal court system, may have no indication of his true date of death. In the Looney family along there are many recordings of the brothers and close kin being killed or were taken off by the indians.
The Looney family even intermarried with some of the indians. The second Robert Looney family has two such marriages documented and there was a third. The third married a niece of Enoli, Black Fox, who was chief of the Cherokees. This Enoli lived and died in Alabama, likely Mississippi Territory. John, the son of the niece of Enoli and a Looney became a Chief and died 1846 in Washington while in D.C. to sign a treaty with the government. He is buried in the Congressional Cemetery.
Samuel Looney, son of the second Robert Looney is supposed to have married a grandchild of Pocohontas, but that is without record. [10]
On 26 Dec 1766 [2QQ98] the son-in-law of Thomas Lewellyn Looney, James Brigham, and David Looney of Fort Chiswell presented a letter to William Thompson of Back Creek relating to a financial matter in which Looney and Henry Harmon are involved. The file was witnessed by Anthony Bledsoe, and endorsed by James Brigham and David Looney. This further connects the Harman and Looney family.[11]
Sources:
- Uprooted: An American Family Saga, Volume Two, by Kathleen Shelby Boyett, page 223, published 2014
- http://huntsvillehistorycollection.org/hh/hhpics/pdf/rankin/LooneyCemetery_SummaryReport.pdf
- Uprooted: An American Family Saga, Volume Two, by Kathleen Shelby Boyett, page 223, published 2014
- Early Adventurers on the Western Waters, Kegley
- Virginia’s Colonial Soldiers, Militia Miscellany in the Draper Manuscripts, page 225, Looney-136.jpg
- Augusta Order book One, page 26, dated 15 April 1746
- Reported by Madge Looney Crane, Uprooted: An American Family Saga, Volume Two, by Kathleen Shelby Boyett, page 223, published 2014
- Periodical: Harmon Genealogy (Southern Branch), 1700-1924, written by John Newton Harmon, S, Publisher: W. C. Hill printing company, Richmond, Virginia, page 89
- Virginia, Land, Marriage, and Probate Records, 1639-1850 9 Nov 1760, Augusta County, Virginia. Notes: This probate record was originally published in Chronicles of the Scotch-Irish Settlement in Virginia, 1745-1800
- page 226 of Uprooted
- The Preston and Virginia papers of the Draper Collection of ManuscriptsVolume I. Preston manuscripts, page 59
Looney and Birdwell family of our ancestors…
An article I wrote and it is posted on the WikiTree profile for Thomas Lewellyn.
Thomas Lewellyn Looney was born about 1718 on the Isle of Man. He was the oldest son of Robert Looney and Elizabeth Llewellyn. He immigrated to Pennsylvania with his parents and into Virginia when they moved to Virginia circa 1740. He passed away about 1760.[1]
Thomas Looney and Jane Harmon’s marriage is acknowledged and their birth dates given in the Huntsville History Collection. It reads, “Thomas LOONEY was born 1718, and died 1755. He married Jane HARMON[2]
Thomas Lewellyn Looney and wife Margaret Jane Harmon, who married circa 1742 had children, one was Mary Looney. Mary Looney was born 1742 at Washington, Augusta County, Virginia.[3] Mary Looney married in 1759 to George Birdwell in Stafford, Stafford, Virginia, USA. Mary Looney Birdwell died 1781 in Sullivan County, Tennessee.
A second daughter, Louisa Looney was born about 1745 in Augusta County, Virginia.
Thomas was the first of the Looney brothers named in the 1742 muster roll of Augusta County, thus is designation as the oldest son. He obtained 400 acres in what would become Abb’s Valley that was named after his brother, Absalom Looney. Thomas was reported as having settled there by 1754 but that is uncertain given other information.[4]
Named on the roll in Capt George Robinson’s Company of Militia during the time of the Revolutionary War for the commonwealth of Virginia was Thomas Looney. Also, named in the same company was Robert Looney, Daniel Looney, and Adam Looney.[5]
The story of an early demise for Thomas Lewellyn Looney were very much presumed. There were probate papers for his estate filed on more than one occasion of his presumed death, but never acted upon by the courts. It is often reported that he was killed by indians in 1746, but he was much alive until 1760.
Thomas Looney was reported killed during an attack by Shawnee Indians who raided the settlement in early 1746. There was a petition on behalf of Margaret Lundey [Looney] that informed the court that her clothes had been taken by David Logan, Constable on attachment vs. her deceased husband Thomas Lundey [Looney] as suit of Daniel Harriss, be returned.[6] Since Lundey is not a name that appears in any of the printed abstracts of Augusta County, the correct name must have been Looney. [7]
Thomas Looney was appointed road work in November 1746 in court documents. The road work traversed “from Adam Harmon’s to the north branch of Roan Oak.” That would be pretty difficult for a dead man to accomplish. Men in the day would go on long hunting expeditions and would not return home for long periods of time. That might explain why court papers were filed presuming Thomas Looney’s death.
In the fall of 1760 there was a conflict with Shawnee at the Little River. It has been named the Battle of Little River. There was a large band of Shawnee who surprised and fell upon a Dutch family. The family had delayed the call for everyone to come inside the fort, actually there was an order for the entrance into the fort. They did not need the order.
The Shawnee killed some of the family and captured a Dutch woman, took property among which were horses and cooking vessels. They then headed in the direction of Little River.
Captain Henry Harman, brother of Margaret Jane Harman Looney, and his milita went into hot pursuit. Among the soldiers of his militia were Margaret Jane Harman Looney’s husband, Thomas Lewellyn Looney and David Lusk.
The Shawnees had stopped where there may have been cover by the tall sedge grass, cooked a meal in the stolen vessels and were gleeful in their enjoyment of the meal of which they were partaking.
Knowing the make up and willpower of the militia that served under him, he chose Thomas Looney and David Lusk to place in the rear. Thomas Looney and David Lusk were ‘tried and true’ soldiers that held his trust. He placed them in the rear to rally and bring the soldiers in should the militia falter; Looney and Lusk were told they would be at his back at first fire should the militia falter.
Captain Harman acted as if a vidette and was creeping ever so close to the feasting of the Shawnee party as a tall Shawnee bent over and sopped his bread in the food. Upon rising, Captain Harman fired a well aimed bullet and the Shawnee’s back bent as if an elbow. The Shawnee party sprang into quick action, positioning themselves behind trees and firing back at Captain Harman who was also positioned behind a tree.
Suddenly, Captain Harman felt a hand on his shoulder. He turned and there smiling back at him were Thomas Lewellyn Looney and David Lusk, his ‘tried and true’ comrades in battle. A lot battle ensued with splinters from the gunfire of the Shawnee becoming embedded in their hair. The splinters were not picked out until they returned to the safety of the fort; more work lie ahead for them.[8]
Captain Henry Harman questioned the Dutch woman they had recaptured from the Shawnee as to the number in the party of the Shawnee. He first questioned her in English and she did not answer. He then questioned her in the Dutch language and she replied there were thirty.
Then at the fire of Thomas Lewellyn Looney’s own gun that brought down an approaching Shawnee, he heeded the instruction of his Captain by “…aim like you are shooting at an old buck ” and the shot felled the Shawnee. The others in the militia unit came forth. The battle continued furiously until the Shawnee who had seven felled by the militia, escaped into the tall sedge grass in retreat.
The probate record for Thomas Looney was published on 19 Nov 1760 in Augusta County, Virginia.[9]. Another source for this information states that David Looney was made administrator of Thomas Looney’s estate on the same date. At the same time, David Looney was appointed administrator of Daniel Looney and Peter Looney’s estates. The reports of his estate being brought into the legal court system, may have no indication of his true date of death. In the Looney family along there are many recordings of the brothers and close kin being killed or were taken off by the indians.
The Looney family even intermarried with some of the indians. The second Robert Looney family has two such marriages documented and there was a third. The third married a niece of Enoli, Black Fox, who was chief of the Cherokees. This Enoli lived and died in Alabama, likely Mississippi Territory. John, the son of the niece of Enoli and a Looney became a Chief and died 1846 in Washington while in D.C. to sign a treaty with the government. He is buried in the Congressional Cemetery.
Samuel Looney, son of the second Robert Looney is supposed to have married a grandchild of Pocohontas, but that is without record. [10]
On 26 Dec 1766 [2QQ98] the son-in-law of Thomas Lewellyn Looney, James Brigham, and David Looney of Fort Chiswell presented a letter to William Thompson of Back Creek relating to a financial matter in which Looney and Henry Harmon are involved. The file was witnessed by Anthony Bledsoe, and endorsed by James Brigham and David Looney. This further connects the Harman and Looney family.[11]
Sources
- ↑ Uprooted: An American Family Saga, Volume Two, by Kathleen Shelby Boyett, page 223, published 2014
- ↑ http://huntsvillehistorycollection.org/hh/hhpics/pdf/rankin/LooneyCemetery_SummaryReport.pdf
- ↑ Uprooted: An American Family Saga, Volume Two, by Kathleen Shelby Boyett, page 223, published 2014
- ↑ Early Adventurers on the Western Waters, Kegley
- ↑ Virginia’s Colonial Soldiers, Militia Miscellany in the Draper Manuscripts, page 225, Looney-136.jpg
- ↑ Augusta Order book One, page 26, dated 15 April 1746
- ↑ Reported by Madge Looney Crane, Uprooted: An American Family Saga, Volume Two, by Kathleen Shelby Boyett, page 223, published 2014
- ↑ Periodical: Harmon Genealogy (Southern Branch), 1700-1924, written by John Newton Harmon, S, Publisher: W. C. Hill printing company, Richmond, Virginia, page 89
- ↑ Virginia, Land, Marriage, and Probate Records, 1639-1850 9 Nov 1760, Augusta County, Virginia. Notes: This probate record was originally published in Chronicles of the Scotch-Irish Settlement in Virginia, 1745-1800
- ↑ page 226 of Uprooted
- ↑ The Preston and Virginia papers of the Draper Collection of ManuscriptsVolume I. Preston manuscripts, page 59
Benjamin, Benjamin, Benjamin…
there were so many of you, and George, and William, and John, and the ands could go on and on.
Benjamin Birdwell born 21 Dec 1765 in Virginia. He died 17 Oct 1840 in Sullivan County, Tennessee. He is the son of George Birdwell and Mary Looney Birdwell.
Benjamin Birdwell married Mary Perry on 3 March 1791 in Sullivan County, Tennessee[1]
- Children
- George Birdwell born 12 Feb 1792, Sullivan County, Tennessee
- David Birdwell born 26 Sep 1794, Washington County, Tennessee
- Jesse Birdwell born 17 Dec 1796, Sullivan County, Tennessee
- Elizabeth Birdwell born 22 Jan 1799, Sullivan County, Tennessee
- Mary Birdwell born 13 Dec 1800, Sullivan County, Tennessee
- Benjamin Birdwell born 8 Feb 1803, Sullivan County, Tennessee
- Jane Birdwell born 16 Jan 1805, Sullivan County, Tennessee
- Nancy Birdwell born 16 Jan 1805, Sullivan County, Tennessee
- Joseph Birdwell born 1 Sep 1809, Washington County, Tennessee
- Rowell Perry Birdwell born 20 March 1812. Washington County, Tennessee
- Ruell Allen Birdwell born 30 March 1814, Sullivan County, Tennessee[2]
Benjamin Birdwell was a patriot lending service on at least two tours of duty during the Revolutionary War. His service is documented by the Daughters of American Revolution as follows:
- Ancestor #: A010379
- Service: NORTH CAROLINA Rank(s): PRIVATE
- Birth: 12-21-1765 VIRGINIA
- Death: 10-17-1840 SULLIVAN CO TENNESSEE
- Pension Number: S*W218
- Service Source: S*W218
- Service Description: 1) CAPT CAVIT, COL SHELBY
The pension files for Benjamin Birdwell’s widow gives us information, some she recollects from hearing her husband give an oral recitation, some from the bible record and some from Interrogatories she underwent during the application process. We know these facts:
1781– they were residents of the county of Sullivan, then in the state of North Carolina, now in Tennessee
Revolutionary War – Benjamin Birdwell served under the immediate command of Col. Isaac Shelby and Mahan; who were under Capt Cavit in the Army under the Division of General Frances Marion
1782 – Benjamin was discharged from that tour and volunteered again under Col John Sevier to go against Cherokee Indians, then the Chickamaugas – on arrival of the Army the indians retreated
- – The British stationed themselves among the indians
1791 -Mary Perry and Benjamin Birdwell married on 3 March 1791 in Sullivan County, North Carolina, now Tennessee
1845 – In the Interrogatories on 6 Feb 1845, Mary Perry Birdwell stated she was 73 years old
- – She stated that the bible record, in great part, was in her husband’s own handwriting
- – She stated that there was no original record of marriage can be found due to the imperfect manner in which the records have been kept
- – She also stated that the couple had lived in Sullivan County, North Carolina, now Tennessee most of their lives together[3]
It appears that this Benjamin Birdwell may have also served in the War of 1812, but needs documentation if true.
Sources
- Application for Revolutionary War Pension by widow, Mary Perry Birdwell 1840s
- Children named in George and Mary Perry Birdwell’s bible record
- Application for Revolutionary War Pension by widow, Mary Perry Birdwell 1840s
A peach of a man…
is our first known immigrant ancestor with the surname of Menefee. Carolyn Murray Greer wrote this biography which is posted on WikiTree for the progenitor of the Menefee family…which extends down to Giles County, Tennessee and into northern Alabama.
Name
-
- George Menefee Esquire, spelled Minifye in earliest documents
Birth
-
- Born: circa 1596
- Devon, England, UK
Parents
-
- Probable: George Minifie and wife Mary Pendleton
Siblings
-
- Sister Minife who married John Bishopp
- Sister Menife who married Roger Booker
- William Minifie who George Minifye sponsored in 1639
Spouses
-
- Jane Pierce
- Mary Potts
Marriages
-
- Married first to widow of John Rolfe whose maiden names was Jane Pierce
- Married second to
- Married third to
- Married fourth to Mary Potts
Children
-
- Elizabeth Minifye who married Capt Henry Perry by Mary Potts
Immigration to America
-
- Name: George Minifie
- Arrival Year: 1623
- Arrival Place: Virginia
- Source Publication Code: 3520
- Primary Immigrant: Minifie, George
- Annotation: From state papers in the Public Record Office, London, a census of the inhabitants of Virginia taken between January 20 and February 7, 1624 or 1625. Lists 1,232 names, with ages and ships taken. Item no. 1272, Colonial Records of Virginia, has many more[1]
- Page: 31
Death
-
- His death date is given as 1646 in records I have researched.
Burial
-
- 1645
- Parish Church of Weston(Westover) Virginia
The name Menefee has had numerous spelling variations over the centuries. Some spelled the name: Minife, Minefie, Minifye, Menifye and other variations of the surname, but the most prevalent spelling has become the surname written as Menefee. Those Menefee men were important people to lend their name to the history and the formation of this country, the great United States of America.
First settled by the English colonists in 1607 at Jamestown in the Virginia Colony, the County was formally created in 1634 as James City Shire by order of King Charles I. James City County is considered one of only five original shires of Virginia to still be extant today in essentially the same political form.
To further information on his immigration to America, George Menifie, who was born in 1596 or 1597, came to Virginia in 1623 on the Samuell from Wiltshire, England.
George Menefee is listed as counted among the living in James City on the first census taken in February of the year 1623. This first census was taken after the 1622 great Indian massacre who took the lives of a quarter of the 1,240 inhabitants within an hour of the start of the bloody ordeal.[2]
George Minify was listed among those in the VA Early Census Index in 1624. He lived in Virginia Pioneer Township, James City County in Virginia.[3]
George was born about 1596. George Menefee passed away in 1646. George Menefee was responsible for bringing over immigrants from England and with each sponsorship he received a grant of land.
In 1639 George Menefee sponsored William Minifie to be brought over to Charles City with a large group of people, and George received a bounty land warrant of acreage in Charles City.[4]
George Menifie arrived in Virginia in 1623, was Burgess for James City County, 1629, and member of the Council, 1635-1646.He was one the wealthiest men of his day in the Colony, and was probably the leading merchant.
In 1634 he lived at “Littleton,” or “Littletown,”‘ not far below Jamestown.His large garden here ” contained fruits of Holland and Roses of Provence.” His orchard was planted with apple, pear and cherry trees, and peach trees. George Menifie introduced the first peach trees to America as he cultivated the first peach trees.Around the house grew, in the fashion of the times, rosemary, thyme, and marjoram.He took a prominent part in the deposition of Governor Harvey.
Later he removed to “Buckland,” an estate of 8,ooo acres in Charles City County. His only child, Elizabeth Menifie, married Captain Henry Perry of Charles City County. Captain Perry was a member of the Council. They left two daughters and co-heiresses. Daughter Elizabeth Perry married John Coggs, gentleman, of Rainslip, Middlesex, Esq. Daughter Mary Perry married Thomas Mercer, stationer, of London.
George Menifie helped raise an native american boy after he reached about ten years of age. It can be presumed that he took care of him after the death of William Perry. The following is an account:
-
- Pg 281
- [June 10, 1640.] Mr. George MeniFye, Esqr., this day presented to the court an indian boy of the country of Tappahannock, Christened and for the time of ten years brought up amongst the english by Captain William Perry, deceased, and […]”The Virginia Magazine of History and Biography”
- Pg 282
- Mr. George Menifye: the indian was examined and found to have been well instructed in the principles of religion, taught to read, instructed to writing: and whereas there hath formerly been given by will, a stock of three hundred pounds sterling by Nicholas Farrar, late of London, Merchant, deceased, by [for?] the Indians, whereof 24 pounds sterling was yearly to be paid to any person that should bring up three of the indian children the said Mr. Menifye for his better supportation in the education of the said indian boy desire certificate from the court of the bringing him up and instructing him in christian religion as is said: the governor and council approving and commending the care that hath been used towards this youth have condescended to the request of the said Mr. Menifye and have thought goo to recommend hereby his suit for the allowance of 8 pounds per annum, part of the said 24 pounds. towards the maintenande the said youth and to that purpose in testimony of the premises have thought good to cause the seal of the colony to be hereunto affixed.Given at James city the tenth day of June, a domini 1640.[5]
The site of old Westover Church, near the house at “Westover,” still contains a number of tombs formerly in or near the old building. The name John James supplies information as to one of the early ministers of the parish. John Bishop was an early resident of Charles City County, as was Walter Aston. Howell Price was once clerk of the county. Virginia Council, 1641.
George Menefye was present at Court held at James City October 13, 1641. Those in attendance were:Sir Francis Wyat, Knt., Governor, Captain John West, Captain Wm. Pierce, Mr. George Menefye, Mr. Wm. Brocas, Mr. Amb. Harmer, Mr. Richmond Bennet.
The land owned by George Menifye, at least at the time, might be located using the information from this source:
[…]The area of the plat of John Harvey being given, also its northern boundary. Back Street, its eastern boundary “the Swamp lying on the East side of the said New Towne,” its southern boundary, **upon the highway close to the banke of the Main river, the approximate position of the tract was ascer- tained after several trials.
From the descriptions of the Harvey and Hamor tracts the position of those of George Menefy J and Richard Stephens, and also those of the two cross streets, all of which are men- tioned in the descriptions of the two first named, were readily found, and finally the tract of John Chew, all as shown on the Map of lames City, Va., 1607-1698.
N. B. — Lines indicated on the *’ Plat of the Tracts ** by numbers I, 2, 3, 4, II, 10, 9, are part of Sherwood (5) survey. [6]
Will
-
- GEORGE MENEFIE of Buckland in Virginia, Esquire.Will 31 December 1645; proved 25 February 1646-7.To be buried at discretion of my wife in parish Church of Weston [Westover]. All debts in Virginia to be satisfied.All Tobacco or money debts in England to be transferred to my books, “The shipp Desire now Iyeinge before Buckland may with all possible expedition be dispatched way for England, and to bee part loaded with what Tobacco is ready here above, and receive the remainder of her ladeinge belowe, vizt, tooe hundred Hoggsheads on the partable account” 100 hoggshead my own account and the rest by discretion of a note to be found in a small book of tobacco shipped and to be shipped.
- My 100 hogsheads and my part in the ship Desire and cargo, and my 1-16 part of the William and George be consigned to Captain Peter Andrews, he to give an exact account to my heirs and executors.
- To my daughter Elizabeth Menefie all my land at Weston, att James Citty, and at Yorke River.
- To my brother John Bishopp, the money he owes me, and one-third part of my crop of Tobacco made the last summer at my plantation of Buckland.
- My sheep at Buckland to be a joint stock between my daughter Elizabeth, and son-in-law Henry Perry.
- To Mr. Jo. James £20 and 1000 lbs of Tobacco, he to preach a sermon at my funeral.
- To Mr. Jo. Converse, Chirurgeon, 2000 lbs of Tobacco.
- To my brother Roger Booker £50, he to assist Humphrey Lister in collecting my debts.
- To Jo. White, Merchant, £50, provided he continue one year longer in Virginia and collect my debts as formerly.
- Tobacco not able to go in the Desire to be sent in the Flower of London Goods consigned in the William and George to be returned in Kind.
- Everything to my wife and daughter.Executrix and guardian to my daughter; my wife Mary.
- Tobacco due to me from Captaine Tho. Varvell shall be Satisfied by Walter Aston. Satisfaction to be made to Mr. Humfrey Adlington for his care in my business concerning Chamberlaine, by Captaine Peter Andrews. Overseers friends Captain Peter Andrews, Richard Bennett, Esq.
- Witnesses Howell Prise, Hunifrey Lister.Fines, 31.
Sources
- ↑ Source Bibliography: JESTER, ANNIE LASH, and MARTHA WOODROOF HIDEN. “Musters of the Inhabitants in Virginia 1624/1625.” In Adventurers of Purse and Person; Virginia, 1607-1625. N.p.: Order of First Families of Virginia, 1607-1620 [Princeton University Press], 1956, pp. 5-69.
- ↑ Original Lists of Person of Quality, by Hotters
- ↑ Virginia, Compiled Census and Census Substitutes Index, 1607-1890
- ↑ Complete listing of Early Virginia Immigrants, 1623-1666 (from book published 1912 by George Cabell Greer, now copyright-free)
- ↑ The Virginia Council & General Court Records 1640-1641 From Robinson’s notes, Virginia Historical Society Collection.
- ↑ Virginia Land Patent Record, Book I, p. 3. t /did, Book I, p. 5. J /did, Book I, p. 4.
A journal of a life of memories…
has been written in parts by Beth Terry Murray. She has approved our posting some of them here. They will come in the parts as written. Enjoy.
One Man’s Life (cont.)
I should mention here that most people remember him being called Wilbo or as his family called him “Bo”.
We had been living in a house next door to my Uncle Glen and Aunt Stella, I loved it because I got to see my cousin Pam every day and there were kids around the neighborhood that we saw all the time. In that house we slept on a sleep porch at the back, my daddy and Ricky slept in a full size bed at the very end of the porch, then I slept in a baby bed that was turned to touch the foot of their bed, and my mother slept in a half bed that touched the end of the baby bed. Yes…..from what I remember I slept in that baby bed until we moved into our new house in 1961, where I had my own bedroom with a new bedroom suit.
Mother had inherited 4 1\2 acres when her parents died and my daddy had bought one of her sisters 4 1\2 acres which then meant he had 9 acres. I really didn’t know what exactly that meant, but I knew by the smile on his face that it meant a lot to him. He bought me and my brother Shetland Ponies and himself several Black Angus Cows. Now the cows were by no means a huge herd, but it was his dream to have something that belonged to him and his own family that he could love and knew would always be there for him. I never doubted for one minute that he loved me and would have done anything for me. As a matter of fact, I remember when we were studying how to tell time in school. I could not get the hang of it and when the teacher would give us a test on clocks I would break out in a cold sweat. My daddy knew I couldn’t read clocks so he took off work 1\2 a day when I was out of school. He went into his and mother’s bedroom and got his Big Ben alarm clock and sat with me all afternoon until the light went on over my head and I had the hang of it.
His mother moved to Town Creek when I was about 8 years old, and he treated her as if she had never left. By the time she came home my grandfather Tom had been killed in Leighton at a little store he managed. A man had come in late one night and stabbed him to death. When Mama Terry moved back to Town Creek it was as if she never left, daddy went to see her every morning before he went to work. His work consisted of being a meter reader for the gas department, I know he would mention wanting a higher paying job periodically, but with the one he had he got to talk to people and that was something he loved to do. He came into my bedroom every Sunday morning and read the comic paper to me, in a very deep voice. To my knowledge he never culled anybody, no one was beneath him or better than him. He never met a stranger and he helped anyone that he saw in need. He called the brothers and sisters that lived out of town to schedule vacations and to let them know when they were expected to be home. I can assure you if Bo wanted you at home at that time, then you were home. The brothers and sisters would fish and sit around and talk about all the old times. Most of the kids would sit there and listen as long as we could, at least until the mosquito’s came out.
Will you be my hero?
John Birdwell is one of my heroes and ancestors. John Birdwell led a very storied life. He is the son of George Birdwell and Mary L Looney Birdwell. His father was a Revolutionary War Patriot. He is likely one of yours, too, if your surnames include Allen, Looney, Harmon, Isbell, Murray, Birdwell, Gregory, Sparks, Lenz, and a myriad of others.
The featured image is where John Birdwell’s property was located in Mississippi Territory, later Madison County, Alabama. He owned property in Tennessee, and in the counties of Madison, Lawrence, Franklin County, and Fayette County, Alabama. He also owned property in Texas, Rusk County and possibly Nacogdoches County.
John Birdwell was born in the Bent of the James River (sound familiar Peebles family?) on 24 Sep 1770. He lived and owned property in the states of Tennessee, Alabama, and Texas. He died at Mt Enterprise, Rusk County, Texas on 16 Feb 1854 at the home of his son, Allen Birdwell. The account of his death is tragic.
The Birdwell descendants are eligible to join:
- First Families of Tennessee
- First Families of Alabama
- Daughters of the Republic of Texas
- Sons of the Republic of Texas
- Daughters of the American Revolution (#A098196)
- Sons of the American Revolution
- Colonial Dames of the XVII Century
He first came to Texas in 1838 by some accounts [4] , while one reference gives a date as early as 1835, he did not move permanently until 1842 after the death of his wife, Mary Allen Birdwell. His son, Col. Allen B. Birdwell, wrote in his own notebook ledger that he moved to Texas in 1842 and that his father John Birdwell lived with him in Nacogdoches County[5]. John Birdwell was still living in Allen Birdwell’s household in Rusk County in the 1850 census. The Handbook Of Texas by the Texas State Historical Association, says: “Allen Birdwell’s father John may have moved to Nacogdoches County, Texas, in 1838, and Allen and his wife Lucinda (Ross) followed by 1842.” [6]
John Birdwell was in Houston on July 8, 1838, when he wrote a letter of recommendation for George Nixon which is preserved in the George Antonio Nixon manuscripts collection at the University of Texas Arlington [7]
A family history states that John Birdwell moved to Nacogdoches County in 1838 and “lived at Old North Church two years,” then moved twelve miles to Mt. Enterprise in what became Rusk County when Rusk was formed from part of Nacogdoches.
John Birdwell signed his will Jan. 24, 1854, and it was entered in Probate Court April 27, 1854.Will is provided as image in this narrative.
John Birdwell died Feb. 16, 1854. The estate included $1,400 cash and included slaves and possibly other property since Col. Allen B. Birdwell posted a $4,000 bond with the Rusk County Probate Court to serve as administrator of his father’s estate, a considerable bond in those days.[8]
FIRST FAMILIES OF TENNESSEE Descendants of John and Mary Birdwell are eligible for membership in the First Families of Tennessee, First Families of Alabama, the Sons of the Republic of Texas, and the Daughters of the Republic of Texas.
1770 John Birdwell and Mary Allen grew up in Sullivan County, N.C., which later became Sullivan County, Tennessee. They married and lived there several years before moving to Alabama.
1781 John Birdwell (born 1770 Virginia, died 1854 Texas) and wife Mary Allen… in 1781 were in Sullivan County, North Carolina (now Tennessee), 1809 Madison County, Alabama; 1819 Lawrence County, Alabama.[9]
FIRST FAMILIES OF ALABAMA 1805 The Birdwells settled in Madison County, Alabama in 1805, where they were charter members of the Enon Baptist Church which later became First Baptist Church of Huntsville. John Birdwell was the first clerk. (Alabama Historical Society marker in Marshall County lists their daughter “Sarah Birdwell Isbell, one of the earliest settlers of Madison County, 1805.” His son Allen Birdwell stated in his ledger that his parents took him to Alabama in 1805, when he was three years old).
1808 “Birdwell Family Tree” by Velma Stovey Schonder, p. 59: “JHB thinks that JB was living in Madison Co., AL by 1808. He was one of the organizers and first clerk of The First Baptist Church in Huntsville, AL. …The church minutes for 6-1-1811 state that the church authorized Brethren Watkins, Pruet Brock, Birdwell and Powell to view a place for a meeting house (Dale Langston, from microfilm notes at Madison Co. Library Heritage Room, Huntsville). “JB is on the 1809 census Madison Co. Al/Ms Territory, p.7, with 2 males under 21, 1 male over 21, 6 females under 21 and 1 female over 21. According to JHB his last 4 children were born there, while his first 4 children married there.” Page 23 (different version, p.72): “John Birdwell…moved Tx 1838.”
1809 Enon Baptist Church Records (Huntsville, Madison County, Alabama), Sept. (2?), 1809:
1809 September (1st?) Saturday 1809. 1st The Church Met & after Prayer proceeded to Business– …5th The Church Appoints Brother Birdwell to Write the Association Letter & Bring the same to next meeting–
1810 Enon Baptist Church Records, Sept. 1, 1810: September 1st Saturday–1810 The Church met and after proceeded to business– 1st Opened a door for the reception of member– 2nd the church took up a reference from last meeting and laid it over till next meeting– 3rd The Church agree to delegate Bros. Hellums, Childress and Birdwell to The Association.
1818 Madison Co. DB E, p. 133 #500: item 500: dated 8-18-1818 Grantor, John & Mary Birdwell Grantee, George Oglethorpe Gilmer For the sum of $3300 Ind. SW/4 Sec. 18-2-E lying east of Briar Fork of Flint River, & 10 Ac. in 3/2 & 10 a. N/2 NW4 sec. 17-2-1E. Proven 11-3-1818 & DR (Pope) (Note: 10 a. in S/2) purchased by Birdwell from Joseph Powell. Witnessed by: Lewis B. Taliaferro, Jacob Pruett, and Levi Isbell.[10]
1818 1818, Aug. 18 – Madison County, Alabama; John Birdwell and wife Mary deeded land to George. Oglethorpe Gilmer. Witnesses: Lewis B. Taliaferro, Jacob Pruitt, Levi Isbell. Levi Isbell was John and Mary Birdwell’s son-in-law.[11]
1819 In January 1819 John and Mary Birdwell moved to Lawrence County, Alabama where they purchased large tracts of land and were also founders of this church,Birdwell Springs Baptist Church, which later changed its name to Enon Baptist Primitive Baptist Church. They were both established within the Mississippi Territory since Alabama was still a part of the native american nation and not yet a state.
The First 200 Years of the First Baptist Church of Huntsville [Alabama] gives the origin of that Enon Church as several years earlier: “All of Enon’s very first members were squatters since the government’s Nashville land office, which handled the sale of Madison County lands, did not even open for business in the Madison County area until August 1810, more than a year after Enon was established.[12]
Page 3: “After having met in private homes for two years, the church in June 1811 appointed a committee —- William Watkins, Jack Prewit, Isaac Brock, John Birdwell, and Joseph Powell –‘to view a place for a meeting house.’ That led to the start of construction of a log building on the western bank of the Brier Fork of Flint River, a few hundred yards north of the present terminal of the North Huntsville Executive Airport. The small building, exact location unknown, was close to the river bank…, affording a convenient place for baptismal services. For some reason, perhaps a shortage of funds, construction was halted short of completion. Almost two years later, Feb. 6, 1813, a new committee was named, consisting mostly of the first group plus William Hellums, to complete the work, and while there was apparently no fanfare to herald its conclusion, the structure was finished and in 1815 did accommodate the second annual meeting of the Flint River Association. …”with regard to the squatter hypothesis, it is interesting to note that the providers of Enon’s one-acre lot, John Birdwell and Joseph Powell, did not themselves receive title to their jointly-held property until April 1814, the church construction having begun on their proffered land three years earlier. But things were ‘looser,’ less formal in those days.”[13]
“A History of Early Settlement: Madison County Before Statehood,” The Huntsville Historical Review (2008) by the Huntsville-Madison County Historical Society provides this information of the church and its: “The closest meetinghouse was Enon Baptist Church on the Briar Fork of the Flint Reiver. Established in 1809, one of its three founders, and its first pastor, was a preacher who lived and owned two pieces of property in the region, John Canterbury. There is no evidence that he was a slaveholder, but the second Enon pastor, Richard Shackelford, was a major landowner who at his death had more than a dozen slaves. He was called as a pastor in 1815 and served until his death in 1823. Enon’s first meetinghouse was a lot building constructed in 1813 on the Briar Fork. (This is on land of the present Madison County Executive Airport.)[14] “Joseph Powell and John Birdwell, charter members of the Enon Church, jointly owned the land adjacent to land owned by both Canterbury and Shackelford. The church building had been erected and in use for a year before Powell and Birdwell themselves received title to the property that they had provided to the church.”[15]
1819 1st Saturday January 1819 (Jan.2) “John Birdwell and Mary his wife” were granted letter of dismissal from the Enon Church in Madison County on the first Saturday in January, Jan. 2, 1819. (ref., First Baptist Church Minutes, James K. Harrison, First Baptist Church History Committee.)
They moved to Lawrence County near Moulton and established a new church.
1819 “F.W. Helmbold, Curator of the Society, in his historical presentation, revealed the fact that the Enon church was constituted originally as Birdwell Springs Baptist Church on the third Monday in June (June 21), 1819.”[16]
1820 The 1820 Federal Census Record reads: Lawrence County, AL.
-
- John Birdwell & wife over 21,
- 3 sons under 21,
- 6 daughters under 21.
The 1820 Federal Census Record in Franklin County, Alabama has John Birdwell listed there as well. He owned property in many places.
The 1820 Federal Census Record for Giles County, Tennessee lists a John Birdwell, but this one is John Birdwell’s nephew John (son of Robert) and family His nephew was probably the John Birdwell in Giles County, Tennessee.
1820 John Birdwell was assigned by an act of the Alabama legislature to review the Flint River in Cotaco County (later Morgan) Alabama, from its junction with the Tennessee to its main fork, to see if it was navigable.[17]
3 Dec 1820 “On December 6, 1820, an act of the Alabama Legislature was approved which designated David Parker, Jonathan Burleson, and John Birdwell, or any two of them, to make a careful “review” of Flint River, from its mouth to the main fork therein, and report the practicability of its navigation, the distance examined, and the expense necessary to improve the river for navigation. On the 20th of December an act was approved to incorporate the Flint River Navigation Co. The incorporators were Fleming Jordan, George Taylor, James McCartney, John Sprowl, Stephen Pond, John P. Brown, John Grayson, Dial Perry, David Walker, Ebenezer Byram, Stephen McBroom, William Derrick, and David Cobb, and they were authorized to improve the navigation of the Flint River in Madison County, from Capt. Scott’s Mills to the Tennessee River. Section 2 of the act provided a penalty of $3 for each day a tree cut or felled into the stream so as to obstruct navigation was allowed to remain, the proceeds of such fine to be applied to the improvement of the river.”[18] The Act is quoted in Alabama Genealogical Quarterly, vol. 1, p.216, and also the Alabama Genealogical Society, Inc., Magazine (1976) vol. 18, issue 1-4, p.38.
Owen, op. cit., p. 595: “It does not appear that much, if any, work was done under either of these acts. In any event, there was none of sufficient permanence to affect the navigation or other characteristics of the stream at the present time. References.—Acts, 1820.[19]
1819 “Enon Church. This church is situated in Lawrence county, ten miles east of Moulton. It was originally called Birdwell’s Spring Church. It was one of the constituent members of the association. It was organized in July, 1819, on nine members, whose names are as follows: Stephen Penn, Mary Penn, John Birdwell, Mary Birdwell, Ezekiel Thomas, Jenny Thomas, George Keys, Elizabeth Keys, and Sarah Simpson.”[20]
They left this church for a few years and helped organize Hopewell Church near Danville.
Page 169: “Hopewell Church, Morgan County. This church was received into the association in July 1825. It was constituted on the first Saturday in December, 1824. The presbytery was Elders Featherstone, Walden, Stephen Penn and John Birdwell. …We suppose it is the place where the church house now stands, about two and one-half miles east of Danville.”
SOME EARLY ALABAMA CHURCHES (ESTABLISHED BEFORE 1870) (1973) by Mabel Ponder Wilson, Dorothy Youngblood Woodyerd, Rosa Lee Busby, Daughters of the American Revolution Alabama Society, p. 95: “Organized in 1819, this church was first known as Birdwell’s Spring Church. The nine organizing members were Stephen Penn,…John and Mary Birdwell….”
Page 130: “Hopewell Baptist Church (located two and one-half miles east of Danville) Hopewell Baptist Church was constituted… l824, with the Presbytery composed of Elders Featherstone, Walden, Stephen Penn, and John Birdwell.”
‘LIFE AND LEGEND OF LAWRENCE COUNTY, ALABAMA’, by Dorothy Gentry (Tuscaloosa, 1962): “Enon, originally called Birdwell’s Spring Church, located ten miles east of Moulton was organized in July, 1819 on nine members, whose names were Stephen Penn, Mary Penn, John Birdwell, Mary Birdwell, Ezekiel Thomas, Jenny Thomas, George Keys, Elizabeth Keys and Sarah Simpson.”
1823 In October 1823, one William Birdwell (1766-1823), age 57, was executed at Moulton, Lawrence Co., AL. for the murder of Mr. Rhea. Thought to be the son of John Birdwell’s older brother Robert Birdwell (1751-1815) of Giles County, Tennessee. The two had had a dispute 10 years before.
1824 The Morgan Baptist Association: “One of the oldest churches in Morgan County, Hopewell was organized on the first Saturday in December 1824. It is mentioned in Hosea Holcombe’s 1840 A History of the Rise and Progress of the Baptists of Alabama. The presbytery was composed of Elders John Birdwell, Stephen Penn, Walden, and Featherstone. Charter members were Barkley Ballard, Polly Ballard, William Johnson, Sarah McDowell, Martha Rodgers, James Simmons, Stacy Simmons, Elizabeth Simmons, Polly Simmons, Solomon Simmons, Mary Simmons, Nicholas Gillentine Sr., Jane Gillentine, Richard L. Gillentine Jr., Martha Gillentine. Annie Gillentine, Gideon Spalden, and Nancy Spalden.” The first deacon was Nicholas Gillentine and the first clerk was William Johnson. The first recorded pastor was Henry W. Hodges in 1827. The church was located on land deeded to the church by William Johnson, “near the well of Brother Simmons” about two and one-half miles east of Danville, eight tenths of a mile south of what is now Highway 36, between Hartselle and Danville. The church was received into the Muscle Shoals Association in July, 1825.”
1828 Lexington (KY) REPORTER, July 23, 1828, p.1 contains a letter John Harris of Moulton, Lawrence Co, AL., to Andrew Jackson on the character of his late father John Harris, Justice of the Peace of Lawrence County. Column 1 cites “John Birdwell, Esq.” among those vouching for him. Column 5 is signed by John Birdwell, Allen Birdwell, and others.
John Birdwell received letter of dismission from Enon in 1842 when his wife Mary died and he moved to Texas. He was known to have visited Texas already by 1838 and probably made several other trips between Texas and Alabama.
Alabama Genealogical Society, Inc. magazine, Volume 21, Issue 1-2 (1958), (reissue? 1989) p. 24: “The First Meeting House. On Saturday, June 1, 1811, the church appointed the following committee ‘to view a place for a meeting house’: …John Birdwell and Joseph Powell.” p. 25: “…west bank of the Brier Fork of the Flint River, on a triangular piece of land about one acre in size. It was in the Northwest Quarter of Section 17, Township 2, Range 1 East of the prime meridian. This entire section (160) acres) was patented (or deeded) by the United States of America to John Birdwell and Joseph Powell…” p.26: “John Birdwell was the son of George Birdwell and Mary. John Birdwell was born in 1770 in Virginia. He married Mary Allen in Tennessee. Some of his children were born there. He moved to Mississippi Territory, Huntsville Meridian about 1805. According to the minutes of Huntsville First Baptist Church, his last Sunday as clerk was January 2, 1819. From there he moved to Lawrence County Alabama where he donated land and helped form the Birdwell Springs Baptist. About 1836 he moved to Fayette County, Alabama, then into Walker County, Alabama. Around 1845, after the death of his wife, he moved with his son, Col. Allen Birdwell, to Rusk County, Texas, where he died in March 1854. He has many descendants in Texas.”
FOOTPRINTS (Ft. Worth Genealogical Society, 1979), vol. 23-23, p. 107 says John Birdwell moved to Rusk Co, Texas in 1845.
His will is published in Alabama Genealogical Society Magazine (Birmingham, AL: 1985), Vol. 19, Issue 1. (Reissue 1989?)
Isbell Country: Genealogy of an Isbell Family by Odessa Morrow Isbell (2000), pp. 11, 19-20: “John Birdwell was in Alabama by 1805; settling north of Huntsville in 1805. He owned land in Sullivan Co., Tennessee and kept two homes so he could homestead Alabama property. He came to Texas in 1842-43 with son Col. Allen Birdwell. …”
1842 George W. Birdwell administered the estate of Robert Bell estate in 1842 in Rusk County, Texas (one book states incorrectly it was John Birdwell). Robert Bell (27 May 1797 TN-13 June 1842 Rusk Co, Tx) was former sheriff of Cherokee County, Alabama. His wife Belinda Scott (b.4 Jun 1795 TN d. 1842) also died in 1842 not long after her husband.
Some Mallorys and Bells (Greenville, Tx.: 1950) by James Robert Mallory, pp. 21-22: “Robert Bell…sent down to Cherokee County, Alabama, for John Birdwell, who was County Judge when Robert Bell was Sheriff.” (Correction: Robert Bell was sheriff of Cherokee County when John Birdwell’s nephew George, son of Joseph Birdwell, was county judge there.) Page 22: “The three families, Bell, Gray and Birdwell came out to Texas together, arriving in 1839. Bell’s headright joined that of Houston….” The author recites his grandfather’s descriptions of Sam Houston visiting the Bell home when he was a young boy. p.26: “John Birdwell, who had come to Texas with Robert and Belinda Bell and had been very close to the Bell family since their days in Alabama, was made Administrator of the Estate of Bell, at Bell’s dying request. Creditors immediately asked for an accounting and Birdwell auctioned off the farm and all the personal belongings of the family for benefit of the creditors.” p.27: “Birdwell, who had taken a headright and then bought up several more from disgruntled settlers, saw that it was impracticable for the Howeths to try to take care of all these children, so he ordered that the two boys, James, fifteen, and William, eleven, be bound out to Robert Gray, who had married Cynthia Scott, a sister of Belinda Scott Bell.”
1854 Birdwell family records show that John Birdwell died Feb. 16, 1854, at age 83 years, 4 months, 23 days, in the home of his son, Col. Allen Birdwell, and was buried in the family cemetery on the site. A fairly large number of the Birdwell family was buried in the cemetery, along with some related families and a number of slaves. After the farm had passed out of the Birdwell family, the later owners rather callously plowed the cemetery under. Trees marking some of the graves were cut down, while the gravestones were thrown into a ditch and covered. A partial list of those known to be buried there was supplied by Mrs. Bohannon of Mt. Enterprise, and a descendant of the Birdwell family, and printed. Some burials were recorded in the Birdwell family bible and appear in the book The Mitchells of Linn Flat by Gwenneth Mitchell, including the notation that John Birdwell’s grave is there.
Proceedings of the Grand Lodge of Texas, 1854-1857, by A.S. Ruthven, Grand Secretary and Past Grand Master, vol. II (1857), p.242: Mount Enterprise Lodge, No. 60. p.243: Past Masters. Master Masons. …Allen Birdwell, John Birdwell
The Mitchells of Linn Flat, by Gwenneth Aenone Marshall Mitchell (Austin, 1981), refers to the Birdwell Cemetery on pp. 174, 202, 214 and 215. Page 174: John Birdwell, his grandson John C. Birdwell, and John A. Birdwell Jr. were buried in a row, side by side, “at the Birdwell family burying ground on the Allen Birdwell place, not far from the family residence near Orton Creek,” three miles from Mt. Enterprise. On p. 202: “The cemetery has been abandoned for some years and pine trees grew over it. Some twenty years ago the ground was smoothed over and seeded in range grass.” From Gwenneth Aenone Marshall Mitchell (posted 10-29-1999 on Birdwell List, on Rootsweb.com): “Rusk Co., Texas History by the Rusk Co. Historical Society, 1982: page 112: John Birdwell, “old great-grandpap”, John C., his grandson, and John Birdwell (Old Uncle John) are all 3 buried in a row side by side. John C. in the middle, Grandpap on the southside, and Uncle John on the north side. Lucinda Ross Birdwell was most likely the first buried there.
1809 census shows 2 sons and 6 daughters born 1788-1809.
1820 The Federal Census record for Lawrence County, Alabama shows:
-
- John Birdwell & wife over 21
- 3 sons under 21, 6 daughters under 21
1830 Federal Census for Lawrence County, Alabama shows:
-
- John Birdwell & wife,
- 1 son (John),
- 2 daughters 15-19 (Lucinda & Ann),
- 1 dau 5-9 (Talitha).
1840 census shows all children gone from home.
The combined censuses of 1809, 1820 and 1830 show these children:
-
- 1 m b1788-1809 Moses 1796
- 1 m 1788-1809 Allen 1802
- 1 f Nancy 1795
- 2 f Eliz 1797
- 3 f Sarah 1799
- 4 f ?Mary Polly c1800-1804?
- 5 f Susan c1805-7
- 6 f Jane 1807
- 1 male 15-19 (1811-1815) John 1814
- 1 f 15-19 (1811-1815) Lucinda 1812
- 1 f 15-19 (1811-1815) Ann 1813
- 1 f 5-9 (1821-1825) Talitha 1821
Children of John Birdwell and Mary Allen:
-
- 1 Nancy Birdwell b Nov. 3, 1795 married James S. Romine
- 2 Moses Birdwell b 1796 married .1815 Sarah Duncan
- 3 Elizabeth Birdwell b Dec.31, 1797 (Jan. 1, 1800?) married 1813 James Isbell
- 4 Sarah H. Birdwell b Feb 14, 1799 married Levi Isbell
- 5 Allen B. Birdwell b Mar 22, 1802
- 6 ? Mary/Polly Birdwell c1800-5 (on some lists), (died young?)*
- 7 Jane Birdwell 1806- m. Samuel Neal (Jane Birdwell m. 10/27/1825 Samuel Neal (10/29/1825 recorded Lawrence Co. Marriage Book 1A, p.226; Gandrud, p.27); lived there 1830 w/ 1 son under 5. Lived in Panola Co., MS in 1850.
- 8 Susan Birdwell 1807- married Joel S Watkins
- 9 John Alexander Birdwell 1812-1871
- 10 Lucinda Birdwell 1809-1811 married James M. Vaught
- 11 Ann Birdwell Feb. 15, 1813-1868 married James B. Fowler
- 12 Son bc1816 (1810-20) on 1820 census, d 1820-30*
- 13 Talitha R. Birdwell June 18, 1821 married James Smyley Wright
- It is possible that one of the married daughters and her husband (Romine or Isbell?) was living with them in the 1820 census and there was no son who died young. However, both James Romine and Levi Isbell were born well before 1800 and do not fit the 1810-20 age bracket.
Some lists of children online include these:
- 1 Mary Birdwell 1800-1888 m1 John McCormack,2Josiah Phelps. This Mary was the daughter of John, son of Robert Birdwell
- 2 George William Birdwell 1811-1831, some lists show him as another son, and some say died at Moulton, Lawrence Co., AL. (confusing him with Moses?), but he was not in the household in the 1830 census.
- 3 Matilda Birdwell Jan 20, 1816-d 1895 Bristol, Ellis Co, Tx is on some lists as another daughter, but note that Talitha R. Birdwell’s name is incorrectly transcribed as Matilda by some researchers. The Matilda Birdwell of Bristol, Tx. was the daughter of John Birdwell of Giles Co., Tn.; granddaughter of Robert and Ellen (Sanford) Birdwell, Robert being the brother of John Birdwell who married Mary Allen. Matilda married in Giles CO., TN. 12 Dec 1834 Neal C. Dever (1802-1878).
- 4 Judge Thomas Gaines Birdwell b1804 Giles Co, TN was not a son. He was a son of John Birdwell’s nephew John (son of Robert), and a brother of Mary and Matilda above. Interestingly, his son Thomas J. Birdwell’s daughter Pearl married John William Culver, son of Susannah (Culver) Isbell Culver, widow of Zach Isbell, son of Elizabeth Birdwell Isbell Conway.
- 5 William McElree Birdwell 1837-1906 was a grandson (son of John A.), rather than a son as some lists incorrectly show.[21]
1912 “For My Children: Memoir of Rev. George Preston Birdwell” (1912): “My grandfather, John Birdwell,…died at my father’s house near Mt. Enterprise, Texas, at the age of 84 years. He was never sick in his life, never had a chill nor a fever. There were nine boys in the family, and all died between the ages of 84 and 90. My father, Colonel Allen Birdwell, was born in West Tennessee…moved with his parents to North Alabama and settled about one mile from Raleville in Lawrence County…. In 1838 he came to Texas to look at the country. He was well pleased and in 1841, he moved to Texas. He settled first near Old North Church in Nacogdoches County. I think he made two crops there before he bought his home, three miles south of Mt. Enterprise, in Rusk County. This was all Nacogdoches County then, in Rusk County. This was all Nacogdoches County then….”[22]
Family links: Parents:
-
- George Birdwell (1721 – 1780)
- Mary Birdwell (1742 – 1811)
Spouse:
-
- Mary Allen Birdwell (1780 – 1840)
Children:
-
- Nancy Birdwell Romine (1795 – 1885)
- Moses Birdwell (1796 – 1832)
- Sarah H. Birdwell Isbell (1799 – 1876)
- Elizabeth Birdwell Isbell Conway (1800 – 1872)
- Allen B. Birdwell (1802 – 1893)
- Susan Birdwell Watkins (1809 – 1888)
- Lucinda Birdwell Vaught (1811 – 1873)
- John Alexander Birdwell (1812 – 1871)
- Ann Birdwell Fowler (1813 – 1868)
- Talitha R. Birdwell Wright (1821 – 1905)
Siblings:
-
- Robert Birdwell (1745 – 1815)
- George Birdwell (1760 – 1816)
- Benjamin Birdwell (1765 – 1840)
- Moses Birdwell (1769 – 1848)
- John Birdwell (1770 – 1854)
- William Birdwell (1772 – ____)
Sources
- Find A Grave Memorial# 50518424
- Find A Grave Memorial# 50518424
- Find A Grave Memorial# 50518424
- The Mitchells of Linn Flat by Gwenneth A.M. Mitchell, pp. 184, 201
- Col. Allen B. Birdwell Journal
- Jennifer Eckel, “BIRDWELL, ALLEN,” Handbook of Texas Online, accessed June 27, 2015. Uploaded on June 12, 2010. Published by the Texas State Historical Association
- Special Collections, George Nixon Collection, Box GA122, Document 00189
- Rusk County Deed Book N-O (1860), p. 367
- FOOTPRINTS, vol. 23-24 (Ft. Worth: Fort Worth Genealogical Society, 1979), p. 107:
- Madison County, Alabama Deed Books A-E, 1810-1819, by Dorothy Scott Johnson (1976)
- Madison County, Alabama Deed Book E Page 133
- The First 200 Years of the First Baptist Church of Huntsville by Joseph M. Jones, p. 2
- The First 200 Years of the First Baptist Church of Huntsville by Joseph M. Jones, p. 2
- A History of Early Settlement: Madison County Before Statehood, The Huntsville Historical Review (2008) by the Huntsville-Madison County Historical Society, p. 69
- “A Dream Come True, The Story of Madison County and Incidentally of Alabama and the United States, Vol. 1, James Record. (Huntsville: Hicklin County, 1970), pp. 39-40.
- The Alabama Baptist Historian (1970), p.20
- History of Morgan County, Alabama by Knox, p. 54
- History of Alabama and Dictionary of Alabama Biography, published 1921 by Thomas McAdory Owen and Marie Bankhead Owen page 595
- Betts, Early history of Huntsville, by Betts, 1916, pp. 33, 70
- History of the Muscle Shoals Baptist Association by Rev. Josephus Shackelford, 1891, p. 165
- Find A Grave Memorial# 50518424
- Birdwell Family, East Texas Families, pp.233-34, 279-80
A Journal of a Life of Memories….
has been written in parts by Beth Terry Murray. She has approved our posting some of them here. They will come in the parts as written. Enjoy.
One Man’s Life – ending
My daddy was not perfect and I am not trying to make it sound as if he was, but I was a child and as I have talked about before girls and daddy’s have a different relationship. Also, mothers and sons have a different relationship. With all the things that his mother had done to him, he still loved her. I never heard him say anything bad about anyone, I suppose he may have, but he would not say anything in front of me. (He probably knew I would tell it!!) This was my feeling about his life, the facts are the facts, I witnessed a lot of the things that went on between him and his brothers and sisters. They loved him very much and it was hard for them to see us in later years. Because they had those feelings it made me feel hard toward some of them…..but I’m jumping ahead.
My mother’s brother E.T. had bought all the other brothers and sisters, except Aunt Sybil’s land so he owned close to 36 acres or some such. My daddy wanted the land badly and he would beg my Uncle to let him buy it from him and eventually my uncle caved and daddy bought the land in 1968. He was so happy to finally own more than just 9 acres and I suppose he told everyone. 1969 dawned with so many fantastic things happening that year. The “Wild Woman” made headline news in Town Creek, Man walked on the moon, our family and the Yates family went to Six Flags together and on the way home we went to a store that Mr. John knew about and daddy bought 2 new suits, we went to a Restaurant that served a variety of things, but Ricky ordered Steak and when asked how he wanted it he said “Cooked”, when we got back in the car I thought my Daddy was going to kill him, because as he said “we acted like we had never been in public before”!! I don’t think it bothered Mr. & Mrs. Yates or Johnny, just my daddy.
Before I knew it, September had arrived and I was now 13, a teenager, and the changes would soon (so we thought) take over my body. Daddy was very upset about all the changes he was afraid would happen and even cried to my mother, because he did not want me to grow up.
October 3rd was a day like any other he woke Ricky and I up to go eat breakfast. He usually would sing “All God’s Children Got To Rise and Shine”, and we would drag ourselves to the bar in the kitchen to eat breakfast. As he was leaving for work he got up and kissed all of us goodbye and told us he would see us that afternoon. It was a Friday, and Ricky, Vicki Mitchell and myself were going with Miss Grace to the Football game at Elkmont, or so we thought. As we were getting in the car to go to her house Brother Whatley came to our house and told us that “daddy had been killed in an accident.” Unfortunately I remember a lot that took place after that moment, but this was about “A Man’s Life” and that life has now ended. The person I always adored and worshipped no longer existed. As quick as he was there he was gone, nothing was the same after that.
He did not walk on water, he was not perfect, he went through some very rough times and overcame all of that and found true happiness in his life, finally. Then, in the blink of an eye it was gone. My mother remained faithful to him for 36 years and ironically she died on Friday, June 17th, Saturday, June 18th would have been their anniversary, Her funeral was June 19th, Father’s Day. Timothy conducted the funeral and made the statement that for the first time in 36 years Mother was able to spend her anniversary with Daddy in Heaven. His life was cut short at the age of 44, but he certainly did a lot of living during his time on earth. The only thing left for me to say and I’m sure there is no need to say it, but I loved my daddy and have loved him everyday of my life and I will miss him as long as I live..
Talented ancestors…
Joseph Manuel was born in 1912 in Town Creek, Lawrence County, Alabama. He passed away in Memphis, Tennessee 15 Jul 1959.[1]
Joe Manuel was born in rural Alabama. He moved to the Arkansas delta with his family as a young boy and was raised on farms in the area until he was a teenager. His family were sharecroppers. When he was a teenager, he left home and started his career in show business by joining a carnival. A vaudeville comedian by the name of Dave Perkins took Joe under his wing and taught him the art of entertaining an audience. Joe learned to play the guitar and sing. In the early thirties, Joe was performing on radio stations in the Arkansas Delta country. By 1933 Joe had moved to Memphis and was broadcasting on W.N.B.R. Later the station was bought by the Memphis Press Scimitar and the call letters changed to W.M.P.S. The station also became the Memphis affillate of the Blue Network, which was the forerunner of A.B.C.
For a period of time Joe Manuel’s broadcasts were carried on the Blue Network – Prior to World War 2. In the middle forties, Joe moved to Dallas Texas and began broadcasting on a radio station there. The station’s call letters are unknown because so much time has passed, but the station made Joe an offer he couldn’t refuse. After a short period of time, because of family matters, he returned to Memphis. He was immediately hired by W.H.B.Q., where he stayed until 1950.
Freddie Burns, a historian of WHBQ and a former radio star of that era, relates this story: “When WHBQ changed owners in the middle forties, they increased their power from 500 watts to 5000 watts. Since the station was at the lower end of the band (56 on the dial), it had a much stronger signal than had it been on the higher end of the band … say 1000, 1250 or 1400.”
At this time, WHBQ moved Joe’s broadcast to the 5:30 am slot. His show would be broadcast between 5:30 and 6:00 am daily. When Joe’s show was moved to this time slot, it became one of the most popular radio programs in the south at that time. What happened was the farmers around the countryside would get up around 4:00 to 4:30 am to do their chores and come in to eat breakfast about 5:30. They would turn their radios to 56 on the dial and listen to Joe’s broadcast with their families while they ate their breakfast.
This show built up a tremendous listener following. Joe received fan mail from Georgia, Louisiana, the panhandle of Florida, Illinois, Kentucky and points east and west. That 5000 watt station was blasting out all over the south. There were not that many radio stations the time, and being that early in the morning and being that low on the band, they had tremendous coverage. During this time WHBQ ran a promotional event to promote their shows. They would send out pictures of the radio stars if the listeners would write in and request them. Freddie Burns says that during this event WHBQ was receiving over a thousand letters a day for Joe’s pictures. Sometimes Joe would take his band out for personal appearances and they would draw huge crowds.
During this period, the people who handled the advertising for the Holsum Bread Company approached Joe about writing a commercial jingle. Joe wrote and recorded “Holsum Bread Boogie.” a full length song which the advertisers condensed into a commercial. The jingle became so popular in Southern Illinois that the Holsum Bread Company brought Joe and his band up to Anna Illinois to do a show. He walked on stage in front of 11,000 people. It was a tremendous crowd for a country music singer in the forties.
Television came to Memphis in 1948 and the popularity of the radio shows, in general, faded quickly. Joe did not make the transition to television and ceased broadcasting his show in 1950. He stayed out of broadcasting for about two years, then moved across the river to KWEM in West Memphis, Arkansas and started doing a daily radio broadcast on this station. He stayed with this station off and on until his death in 1959.
Jimmy Rodgers was a hero of Joe’s and his influences can be heard in some of Joe’s music, particularly “Alimony Blues.” which Joe wrote and introduced on his radio broadcast around 1940. It became his most requested song. Joe was renowned as an accomplished yodeler and was the inventor of the Four Triple Swiss yodel.
In 1950, because of the vast amount of talent in Memphis, Joe convinced the idea of a stage show similar to the Grand Ole Opry in Nashville. He wanted to bring this talent to the attention of the public. Out of this idea was born the Saturday Night Jamboree at the old Goodwyn Institute Auditorium at Third and Madison. The Saturday Night Jamboree ran for two years (1953-54), and a lot of young Memphis musicians made some of their first public appearances on this show.
A unique thing about this was – that the young players and singers that appeared were going into the recording studios that had recently sprung up all over town. The artists were experimenting with their new found sounds. This sound combined country, blues and gospel. The world would soon call it “rockabilly.” Some of these singers and musicians would go on to become legends in the music industry.
Joe’s stage presence was strong and he knew how to entertain an audience. Whether he walked out on stage with his band or with just his guitar, his ability to hold an audience is still talked about today by old timers in the music business. Joe’s medium was live radio, therefore, there is very little recorded material today with his voice on it.
If Joe left a legacy, it was the inspiration that he gave to the young musicians of that era to do the best that they could do when they walked up to this microphone and the spotlight fell upon their shoulders.
Recently the State of Arkansas erected an historical marker in front of the building in West Memphis, that housed the k.w.e.m. studios until 1955. The Marker is dedicated to k.w.e.m. radio for the period 1949-1955. There is a picture of Joe and his band on the front of the Marker.[2][1]
THE BEGINNING The Saturday Night Jamboree was a local stage show held every Saturday night at the Goodwyn Institute Auditorium in downtown Memphis, Tennessee in 1953-54. It was founded by Joe Manuel, a popular Hillbilly Radio Star of the 1930’s and 40’s.
A lot of young musicians around Memphis grew up listening to Manuel’s radio broadcasts and as young adults would congregate around him during their off time. Manuel recognized the talent in a lot of these young people. He realized that they they might succeed in the music business if given the opportunity. What they needed was a forum to show their talents to the public. He conceived the idea the idea of a stage show similar to the Grand Ole Opry in Nashville. From this idea came the Saturday Night Jamboree.
The First show consisted of Joe Manuel and his band and Marcus Van Story and his band. (Joe and Marcus were old friends). Marcus would open the show, then, after intermission, He would come back on stage (hat turned around backward, front teeth blackend, tattered clothes,etc.), Joe would play straight man, and they would do a comedy routine. Then Joe and his band would close the show
After a few weeks several of the young singers and musicians from the area started coming on the show. They were rapidly joined by others. Even entire bands began coming on the show. Soon the audience began to fill the Goodwyn Institute Auditorium. K.W.E.M. radio began broadcasting the jamboree. The show took off far beyond anything Joe Manuel expected.
Some of the Memphis area musicians who later became major artists, made some of their first public appearances on the Jamboree. Johnny and Dorsey Burnette were early performers before joining Paul Burlison to form the Rock N Roll Trio. Eddie Bond and his band came on the show. Charlie Feathers was a weekly performer. Johnny Cash was a regular the second year. He sang gospel at the time. This was before he signed with Sun Records.
Lee Adkins, Bud Deckleman, Harmonica Frank Floyd, Barbara Pittman, The Lazenby Twins, Lefty Ray Sexton, Lloyd (Arnold) McCoulough, Tommy Smith, Major Pruitt, Johnny Harrison and Larry Manuel (Joe’s son), were all regulars on the jamboree.
A very young and totally unknown Elvis Presley performed on several of the early shows in 1953.[2]
BACKSTAGE
But of more historical significance was something that was going on backstage in the dressing rooms. Every Saturday night in 1953, this was a gathering place where musicians would come together and experiment with new sounds – mixing fast country, gospel, blues and boogie woogie. Guys were bringing in new “licks” that they had developed and were teaching them to other musicians and were learning new “licks” from yet other musicians backstage. Soon these new sounds began to make their way out onto the stage of the Jamboree where they found a very receptive audience.
Within a year these musicians were going into the recording studios around town and recording these sounds. A couple of years later these sounds were given a name: “rockabilly.” The Saturday Night Jamboree was probably where the first live rockabilly was performed.
THE BUSINESS END
As the show became a success, Joe Manuel knew he would need help in the business end. Joe was a highly talent entertainer, but he was not a businessman. He approached an old and close friend, M.E. Ellis to ask his help running the business. Ellis had experience in business matters, owning a barber shop, half interest in another, and at one time was involved in the automobile business. He was both a fan and a friend of Joe’s, and had been trying for some time to become Manuel’s manager. After several discussions, the men reached a handshake agreement. Ellis would become Manuel’s manager and in return would step in and help with the business needs of the Jamboree. M.E. Ellis played a valuable role in the success of the Saturday Night Jamboree.
CLOSING DOWN THE SHOW
The show lasted for two years. At the end of 1954 the Goodwyn Institute owners informed Joe Manuel that they were closing the auditorium for a year for remodeling. Also, by the end of 1954, many of the performers had signed recording contracts, were having hit records played on the radio, and were going out on the road on Saturday nights. With no other appropriate location available to hold the Jamboree and the talent dwindling, Joe decided to close it down.
The Saturday Night Jamboree was never intended to play an important role in the launching of the Memphis rockabilly movement, but it did. It was an event that was in the right place at the time. Not only did many performers become major rockabilly recording artists, many members of the various bands became session musicians at different recording studios around the Memphis area. Many of the sounds that were born in the dressing rooms backstage at the Jamboree were making their way into the studios and would soon be heard around the world.
After closing the, Joe Manuel began a slow withdrawal from doing stage shows on the road, but continued doing radio broadcasts. He and M.E. Ellis dissolved their management agreement but maintained their close friendship until Joe’s death in 1959 (from melanoma cancer).
Joe Manuel died, never realizing the unique role he had played in the conception of rockabilly music. He did, however, know that he had proven his point, that these young musicians that he saw around Memphis, could succeed in the music business if given the opportunity.
CASES IN POINT
LEE ADKINS – Became a SUN recording artist.
JOHNNY and DORSEY BURNETTE – Teamed with Paul Burlison to from the Rock N Roll Trio, winning Ted Mack’s Amateur Hour 3 times, then becoming the Grand National Champions. They signed with CORAL Records and had a hit called, “Tear It Up.”
EDDIE BOND – Signed with MERCURY Records and had a huge hit, “Rockin’ Daddy.” Eddie became a major rockabilly recording artist of the middle and late ’50s.
JOHNNY CASH – became an American music institution.
BUD DECKLEMAN – Signed with METEOR Records and had a big country hit with “Day Dreaming.” This song gave Bud the opportunity to became a star on the Louisiana Hayride radio show.
M.E. ELLIS – Became an independent record producer, owning both the RIVERFRONT and the ERWIN labels. He produced a hit record on Kimball Coburn, “Dooby Oby Pretty Baby.” He Also produced “It’s a Little More Like Heaven Where You Are,” by an unknown singer-songwriter Hoyt Axton. The song was such a country hit in the middle ’50s that M.E. Ellis’ estate still receives royalties on it over 40 years later.
CHARLIE FEATHERS – Signed with METEOR Records and had am early rockabilly hit called “Tongue Tied Jill.” Charlie is not only regarded as a pioneer of rockabilly music, he is considered a music legend in many countries.
HARMONICA FRANK FLOYD – Although a drifter as his legend suggests, Frank made several records for SUN including “Rockin’ Chair Daddy,” which was released released three weeks before Elvis’ “That’s All Right Mama.” He is considered a legend in several countries.
JOHNNY HARRISON – Moved to Nashville and became a songwriter. He wrote the B side of several Louvin Brothers hit records.
ROBERT “DROOPY” HOWARD – Comedian in Joe Manuel’s band. Went on to be a comedian in Eddie Bond’s band and became comic relief for western movie star Sunset Carson.
THE LAZENBY TWINS – Signed with PEPPER Records and had a top forty record, “Ooh Ooh La La I Fooled You.”
LARRY MANUEL – Continued to work in the music scene around Memphis in the late ’50s. In 1959 Larry made a record for STOMPER TIME Records, “Don’t Try to Call Back Tomorrow.” It was a fairly commercial record receiving a lot of radio play and getting on the Top Forty in some areas. Larry became Memphis’ last new artist of the ’50s to actually make a record and take their band out out on the road doing shows.
LLOYD McCOULOUGH – Changed his name to Lloyd Arnold and became a big recording star in Canada, middle 1950’s.
BARBARA PITTMAN – Signed with SUN Records and had a huge hit with “Two Young Fools in Love.”
ELVIS PRESLEY – Became the most famous recording star of the second half of the Twentieth Century.
MAJOR PRUITT – Worked the music scene around Memphis and became a Disc Jockey.
LEFT RAY SEXTON – Continued to work in the music scene in Memphis with his band throughout the ’50s.
TOMMY SMITH – Signed with DACCA Records and had a big hit in the middle ’50s with a song he wrote, “I’m a Fool.”
MARCUS VAN STORY – Switched from playing guitar to bass fiddle and became a session musician at SUN Records. He played on my of their hit records. In later years, he toured the world as a member of the SUN RHYTHM SECTION.[3][3]
Joe Manuel sing, Alimony Blues SUN 1954 [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1NoOEXdsW84]
Larry Manuel sings, Pin Stripe Suit [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IfS10eLTUn0]
Sources
LEVI CASEY – A MOST DISTINGUISHED FORGOTTEN MAN
Biography
Levi Casey had many names bestowed upon him during his short lifetime. He was an Overmountain Man,[1] Militia Man, Captain, Colonel, Brigadier General, Congressman, Senator, son, brother, husband, and father; most importantly of all was the title Patriot.
Levi Casey was born in the year 1749 in the state of South Carolina according to records submitted and accepted into the D.A.R. files.[2] That would seem accurate considering he died in the first day of February 1807 in his 59th year which would put his birth year at 1749, unless he died on his birthday. He was born in what was then the old Ninety-Six District in which he had a hand in dividing into what would become Newberry County.[3]
In the Revolutionary War, brothers Benjamin, Randolph and Levi lent service as did their father, Abner Brooks Casey. Abner gave service and provided aide to the cause. Abner Brooks Casey was awarded a Bounty Land Grant in Kentucky for his effort.
The Casey brothers were in the Second Carolina Regiment under Col. Elijah Clark and fought in the Battle of King’s Mountain. Levi Casey became a (started out as a Captain) Lieutenant, then a Colonel of South Carolina Troops, and finally a Brigadier General, commanding the brigade consisting of the Laurens, and Newberry regiments. He commanded a company at the attack on Savannah and distinguished himself at Rocky Mount, King’s Mountain, Hanging Rock, Musgrove’s Mils, Fishing Creek, Blackstocks, and Cowpens.
After the fall of Charlestown, the British authorities considered South Carolina under British control, and some of the rebels even went to the British camp and sought protection. Levi and others would not entertain taking that action for one second. They were true blue and staunch patriots of the American cause and would willingly take any risk to secure Independence.
US Congressman. Elected as a Democratic-Republican to the Eighth and Ninth Congresses, he served from 1803 until his death. Casey was a South Carolina native but very little is known of his early life.
During the Revolutionary War he was commissioned a Captain in the Continental Army and fought with distinction at the Siege of Savannah (1779) and at the battles of Rocky Mount (1780), Hanging Rock (1780), and Cowpens (1781).
At the end of the conflict he was a Colonel in command of South Carolina’s Little River Regiment, and subsequently became a Brigadier General of the State Militia.
He was a five-term member of the State Senate (1781 and 1782, 1800 to 1802) and served nine terms in the State House of Representatives (1786 to 1788, 1792 to 1795, 1798 to 1799), prior to his election to the US House.
In 1802, he was elected as a Republican to serve in the U. S. House of Representatives within the 8th and 9th Congresses representing the state of South Carolina. There he served the 7th District that included Abbeville, Laurens and Newberry Districts. He served in that capacity from 4 March 1803 until his death 1 February 1807.
He was elected to the 10th Congress before the close of the 9th Congress, but died, likely in the state house, in Washington D. C. on the first day of February from a massive heart attack.
He was the first elected dignitary in our nation to die while in office (followed closely by another elected official who was buried in the Congressional Cemetery before Levi Casey was disinterred) and was initially buried at the St. Paul’s Presbyterian Cemetery [Rock Creek Cemetery] in Georgetown. Being the first experience in our young nation of someone dying while serving in office, there was no official burying ground for dignitaries at the time and that fact created a little bit of a conundrum. Efforts were quickly made to secure and dedicate a spot for just such dignitaries, and thus the Union Cemetery known as the Congressional Cemetery came to fruition.
Levi Casey was reelected to a third term but died before taking his seat in the Tenth Congress. Originally buried in a cemetery outside the Washington city limits, he was re-interred with honors at the Union (Congressional) Cemetery on 10 August 1832. [4]
It must have been good to have been one of Levi Casey’s constituents when he served them, his state, and his country. They were fortunate that a patriot and politician like him would share his and his colleagues’ progress and lack thereof for the young nation and its citizens. His wife, Elizabeth from the respected Duckett family of Maryland, had a lot of influence on his service as a political figure. The rule and custom of the Caseys was when he returned home from the “Federal City” he issued and sent out invitations ‘to all the people in his district (covered several counties), to assemble at his house on a day named, at which Gen. Casey would have a large barbecue and ample provisions for man and beast, and his friends were required to spend a week as his guests, during which time he would render to them a full account of his acts in Congress; and the balance of the time was spent in feasting and dancing and such other amusements as suited the tastes and inclinations of his guests
Parents:
-
- Abner Brooks Casey (1700 – 1796)
- Harriet Green Casey (1700 – 1786)
Spouse:
-
- Elizabeth Duckett Casey (1759 – 1839)
Children:
-
- John A Casey (1775 – 1862)
- Sarah Siner Casey Rhodes (1789 – 1872
- Levi Garrett “Old Flynn” Casey (1791 – 1855)
- Elizabeth Casey Johnson (1795 – 1872)
- Jacob Duckett Casey (1796 – 1853)
- Samuel Otterson Casey (1801 – 1866)
Sibling:
-
- Christopher Casey (1755 – 1840)
- Randolph Casey
- Benjamin Casey
Part of Levi Casey’s Service Record
-
- Name: Levy Casey
- Event Type: Military Service
- Event Date: 1782
- Event Place: United States
- Event Place (Original):
- Age:
- Military Rank:
- Birth Year (Estimated):
- Death Date:
- Affiliate Publication Number: M246
- Affiliate Publication Title: Revolutionary War Rolls, 1775-1783.
- Affiliate Film Number: 1
- GS Film Number: 000830280
- Digital Folder Number: 007196920
- Image Number: 00109[5]
1783: Commissioners Appointed to Divide Districts into Counties
Levi Casey changed the landscape of our country in more ways than one. In the article written in The Edgefield Advertiser, a South Carolina Newspaper, Levi Casey is mentioned. The text that mentions Casey reads as follows:
- “It is recorded in Judge O’Neal’s Annals of Newberry County that in 1783 an ordinance was passed appointing Commissioners to divide the Districts of Charleston, Georgetown, Beaufort, Cheraw, Camden, Ninety-Six and Orangeburg into counties of convenient size. In Ninety-Six the Commissioners were “Andrew Pickens, Richard Anderson, Thomas Braddon, Levy Casey, Philemon, Waters and Arthur Simkins.”[6]
Rank of Colonel in the Revolutionary War
-
- Name: Livy Casey
- Event Type: Military Service
- Event Date: 08 Jun 1782
- Event Place: South Carolina, United States
- Event Place (Original):
- Age:
- Military Rank: Colo
- Birth Year (Estimated):
- Death Date:
- Affiliate Publication Number: M246
- Affiliate Publication Title: Revolutionary War Rolls, 1775-1783.
- Affiliate Film Number: 89
- GS Film Number: 000830368
- Digital Folder Number: 004171622
- Image Number: 00326[7]
1768 South Carolina, Compiled Census and Census Substitutes Index: 1790-1890
-
- Name: Levi Casey
- State: South Carolina
- County: Newberry (Old 96 District)
- Township: No Township Listled
- Database: South Carolina Census Index[8]
1790 Federal Census Record
-
- Levey Casey
- United States Census, 1790
- Name Levey Casey
- Event Type Census
- Event Date 1790
- Event Place Newberry, South Carolina, United States
- Page 53[9]
1800 Federal Census Record
-
- Name: Levi Casy
- Event Type: Census
- Event Date: 1800
- Event Place: Newberry District, South Carolina, United States
- Page: 68
- Affiliate Name: The U.S. National Archives and Records ::Administration (NARA)
- Affiliate Publication Number: M32
- Affiliate Film Number: 50
- GS Film Number: 181425
- Digital Folder Number: 004955934
- Image Number: 00136[10]
Levi Casey Burial
-
- Name: Levi Casey
- Maiden Name:
- Event Type: Burial
- Event Date: 1807
- Event Place: Washington, District of Columbia, District Of ::Columbia, United States of America
- Photograph Included: Y
- Birth Date:
- Death Date: 03 Feb 1807
- Affiliate Record Identifier: 6984077
- Cemetery: Congressional Cemetery[11]
“Gen. Levi Casey, Representative in Congress from this State died at the City of Washington, on the 1st inst. The usual mourning and funeral honours were voted him.”[12]
There are researchers who list Brigadier General Levi Casey’s death date as 3 February 1807, but his death occurred on Sunday, the first day of February in the year 1807. His obituary was published in The National Intelligencer on Friday, the 6th day of February 1807 and states that Levi Casey died on Sunday. This man must have been larger than life, for he was the first, or one of the first that received the high honor of a state funeral. The text of his obituary follows:
Died, in this city, on Sunday morning at 4 o’clock, 1st instant of a pulindnick disease, Brigadier General Levi Casey, of South Carolina, in the fifty-ninth year of his age.
The fatal illness of this amiable gentleman was but of short duration; his closing moments were passed with that serenity which arises from the reflection of a well-spent life; his last breath was drawn with a calmness, resulting only from true fortitude and virtue.
Early in the revolutionary war, General Casey received the command of a company, with which, he gallantly assisted at the siege of Savannah, in the attempt made by the Americans and French to storm the British works. He was afterwards distinguished as a brave and prudent officer in the battles of Rockey Mount, Hanging rock, Musgoves, King’s mountains, Fishdamford, Blackstocks and at the Cowpens, where, he performed very important services to General Morgan. Through the whole war he enjoyed, as a brave and valuable officer, the applause, friendship and confidence of General Sumpter.
During many years after the close of that war, in which his conduct was so important and successful, he represented Newbury district in the state legislature, both in the Senate and House of Representatives, and was, at the time of his death, on the fourth term of service in Congress, a representative from South Carolina.
The friends and family of no man have more cause to lament a loss of this land, than those of General Casey; for in sweetness and equanimity of temper, he was equaled by few; in the tenderness of affection, of domesticities, surpassed by none.
He was from the commencement of the revolution, a uniform patriot; he has left behind him, the surest testimony of public confidence and private worth, the universal love of his neighbors. Painful as the regrets of his family must be, they will derive some consolation from the marked respect which was paid to his funeral by the national legislature. In this too, will the old revolutionary soldier participate; because, he will be in it, the memory of the brave is not forgotten.
The following is the order of procession as it moved from the capitol.
-
- 1. Marine Corps
- 2. Chaplains of Congress
- 3. Ministers
- 4. Physicians
- 5. Corpse
- 6. Pall bearers, (six Generals)
- 7. Mourners
- 8. Speaker preceded by the sergeant of arms, and followed by the Clerk
- 9. Members of the House of Representatives
- 10. President of the Senate preceded by the sergeant at arms, and followed by the Secretary
- 11. Members of the Senate
- 12. Heads of Departments and officers thereof
- 13. Citizens.
When the procession arrived at Rock Creek, it was formed on foot, (two and two) the carriages following behind, and proceeded in that manner to the grave.
The Speaker of the House of Representatives, the President of the Senate, and the Pall-bearers, with white scarves over the right shoulder and white gloves. The chaplains of Congress and other ministers with white scarves over the right shoulder and round the hat, and white gloves.
The sergeants at arms, clerk of the House, and Secretary of the Senate, with white scarves over the right shoulder only.
The members of the House of Representatives, with black crape on the left arm.[13]
Sources
- ↑ The Overmountain Men, Publisher: Overmountain Press; Second edition edition (January 1, 1986)
- ↑ D.A.R. Patriot Index, Volume 1, page 467 as LCol PS SC)
- ↑ http://bioguide.congress.gov/scripts/biodisplay.pl?index=C000226
- ↑ Charleston Courtier, periodical published Monday, February 16, 1907
- ↑ Citing this Record: “United States Revolutionary War Rolls, 1775-1783”, database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:Q2DG-4DS4 : 21 December 2016), Levy Casey, 1782.
- ↑ The Edgefield Advertiser, a South Carolina newspaper, year not known, page 2
- ↑ Citing this Record: “United States Revolutionary War Rolls, 1775-1783”, database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:Q2DG-W77L : 21 December 2016), Livy Casey, 1782.
- ↑ 1768 South Carolina, Compiled Census and Census Substitutes Index: 1790-1890,
- ↑ Citing this Record “United States Revolutionary War Rolls, 1775-1783”, database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:Q2DG-W7SD : 21 December 2016), Livy Casey, 1782.
- ↑ Citing this Record: “United States Census, 1800,” database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:XHRC-363 : accessed 14 June 2017), Levi Casy, Newberry District, South Carolina, United States; citing p. 68, NARA microfilm publication M32, (Washington D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.), roll 50; FHL microfilm 181,425.
- ↑ Citing this Record: “Find A Grave Index,” database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QVV3-3F96 : 13 December 2015), Levi Casey, 1807; Burial, Washington, District of Columbia, District Of Columbia, United States of America, Congressional Cemetery; citing record ID 6984077, Find a Grave,http://www.findagrave.com.
- ↑ Charleston Courtier, periodical published Monday, February 16, 1907
- ↑ The National Intelligencer, February 6, 1807
- ↑ Research compiled and tribute written by a fourth great-granddaughter of the patriot Br. Gen. Levi Casey, Carolyn Murray Greer, completed on 15 June 2017
James Alexander Murray…
was a good Christian man. He is my paternal grandfather, we called him “Grandpa”.
James Alexander Murray was born in 1904 likely near Spring Valley in Colbert County, Alabama He was born to parents Levi Murray and Lou Ella Vandiver Murray. He married Methel Estelle Gregory, daughter of Elmer Gilbert Gregory and Alice Sparks Gregory, on the 31st day of December 1922 in Tuscumbia, Colbert County, Alabama. [1]
For those attending to detail in family research, it is self evident that so many things in official and government records are riddled with errors. An example would be the marriage record for James Alexander “Alex” Murray and Methel Estelle Gregory.The notation of race in the marriage record is completely in error. Their race was WHITE. The same is to be said of transcription errors; that is evidenced in the marriage record for his second marriage. His parents’ names are incorrect; should read Levi Murray and Lou Ella Vandiver.
James Alexander “Alex” Murray and Methel Estelle Gregory had four living children: James Arlander Murray, Edward Lee Murray, Elmer Hillard Murray, and Alice Estelle Murray.
James Alexander “Alex” Murray and Thelma McGee Murray[2]had five children: Gary Thomas Murray and Sarah Murray who died as infants, Linda Marie Murray, Thelma Fay Murray and Ella Susan Murray.
He passed away in 1981 after a battle with chronic Leukemia. He is buried at the Morning Star Cemetery, as are his wives.
- Marriage of James Alexander Murray and Methel Estelle Gregory
- Name: James A. Murray
- Gender: Male
- Race: Black
- Marriage Date: 31 Dec 1922
- Marriage Place: Tuscumbia, Colbert, AL.
- Spouse: Miss Methel Gregory
- FHL Film Number: 1031169
- Reference ID: vol L 1922-23 pg 418[3]
- Marriage of James Alexander Murray and Cecil Thelma Mcgee.
- Mentioned in the record of James Alexander Murray and Cecil Thelma Mcgee[4]
- Name: James Alexander Murray
- Gender: Male
- Event Type: Marriage
- Event Date: 27 Dec 1941
- Event Place: Colbert, Alabama, United States
- Age: 37
- Birth Year (Estimated): 1904
- Father’s Name: Leve Murray
- Mother’s Name: Lou Ella Vandauer
- Spouse’s Name: Cecil Thelma Mcgee
- Spouse’s Gender: Female
- Spouse’s Age: 22
- Spouse’s Birth Year (Estimated): 1919
- Spouse’s Father’s Name: Tom Mcgee
- Page: 387
- James Alexander Murray
- Find A Grave Index[5]
- Name: James Alexander Murray
- Event Type: Burial
- Event Date: 1981
- Event Place: Tuscumbia, Colbert, Alabama, United States of America
- Photograph Included: Y
- Birth Date: 26 Jan 1904
- Death Date: 16 Jul 1981
- Affiliate Record Identifier: 48935440
- Cemetery: Morning Star Cemetery
Sources
- ↑ Citing this Record: “Marriage of James Alexander Murray and Methel Estelle Gregory. “Alabama, Select Marriages, 1816-1957 about James A. Murray Name: James A. Murray Gender: Male Race: Black Marriage Date: 31 Dec 1922 Marriage Place: Tuscumbia, Colbert, AL. Spouse: Miss Methel Gregory FHL Film Number: 1031169 Reference ID: vol L 19”
- ↑ Citing this Record “Alabama County Marriages, 1809-1950”, database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:29NV-PH7 : 16 July 2015), James Alexander Murray and Cecil Thelma Mcgee, 1941.
- ↑ Alabama, Select Marriages, 1816-1957
- ↑ Citing this Record “Alabama County Marriages, 1809-1950”, database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:29NV-PH7 : 16 July 2015), James Alexander Murray and Cecil Thelma Mcgee, 1941.
- ↑ “Find A Grave Index,” database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QVKV-Q5NR : 13 December 2015), James Alexander Murray, 1981; Burial, Tuscumbia, Colbert, Alabama, United States of America, Morning Star Cemetery; citing record ID 48935440, Find a Grave,http://www.findagrave.com.
Remembering the Shoals 