When the Ancestors Just Leap Off the Page!

I received another 2013 Black History Month treat! But this time, the treat did not pertain to my ancestors.  Recently, a colleague mentioned to me how he and his family hardly know anything about his paternal grandfather’s father’s family. Anthony’s grandfather, David Penamon, was born in 1923, and the only piece of information they had was the name of David’s father, Charlie Kendall, and a location, Upson County, Georgia.  His paternal grandmother, Mabel Penamon, and Charlie Kendall never married, hence the lack of familial connection and knowledge of their Kendall roots.  So I took some time to see what I could find just sitting at my computer and accessing ancestry.com and other online databases.

Well, low and behold, Anthony’s ancestors started leaping off the page!  I was able to even break down the 1870 brick wall – at my computer!  It was amazing. Follow along to see what I was able to find out. I also hope that beginning researchers will learn from this post, and others will be inspired to see what they can uncover about their family history.

The genealogy rule of thumb in census research is to start from the known and proceed to the unknown. That is, start with the latest census available and keep proceeding back in time.  The 1940 census is the latest census which became available to the public in April 2012.  From 1940 to 1930, it was clear that David Penamon was being raised by his maternal grandparents, David Sr. & Mellie Penamon.  In 1920 in Upson County, just 3 years before David was born, the Kendall family was just several doors down from the Penamon family. Charlie Kendall was in the household! Based on experience, I ascertained beforehand that the Kendall surname may be spelled several different ways. I was right. In 1920, the surname was spelled KINDAL.

1920 Upson County, Georgia (Jug District): Charlie Kendall was found in the household of his father, Wesley Kindal, whose wife was Edna, and the children in the house were Robert (27), Jimmie (20), Charlie (18), and son, Willie (17).

I checked www.familysearch.org, a site containing an increasingly large amount of genealogical data provided by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, and low and behold, the following information from Charlie Kendall’s death certificate was found:

Name: Charlie Kendall

Name of father: Wesley Kendall

Name of mother: Edna Davis

Death date: 28 July 1928

Death place: Yatesville, Upson County, Georgia

Age: 26

Birthdate: 1902

Certificate No: 19653

Charlie Kendall died when his son, David Penamon, was just 5 years old, hence the reason why David’s family knew little about him and his roots. 

Continuing back in time:

1910 Upson County, Georgia (Jug District):  Again, Charlie Kendall was in the household of his parents, Wesley & Edna Kendall, and their children in the house were: John (20), Robert (18), Ella (15), Lewis (14), Jimmie (12), Charlie (10), and Willie (9). Comparing the 1910 and 1920 censuses, the ages are off by a year or two, but age discrepancies in census records are common.

1900 Upson County, Georgia (Jug District): Surprisingly, Charlie Kendall was in Wesley & Edna’s household!  His death certificate reported that he was born in 1902, and the 1920 census reported that he was 18 years old. Therefore, this census revealed that Charlie was actually born Jan. 1896.  Also, in this census, the surname was spelled KENDAL. Wesley (38) and Edna (37) had been married for 14 years.

Most of the 1890 census was destroyed in a fire that occurred in the Commerce Department building in Washington, D.C. on January 10, 1921.

1880 Upson County, Georgia (Jug District): Wesley Kendall, reported age of 17, was living with his grandfather, Harrison Kendall (58)!  This census leapfrogged us up two generations! But, who were Wesley’s parents, and which parent was the child of Harrison Kendall and possibly his wife, Darcus Kendall?

Luckily, Wesley Kendall’s death certificate information was uploaded to www.familysearch.org.  It contained the following data:

Name: John Wesley Kendall

Spouse’s name: Edna Davis

Name of father: (not reported)

Name of mother: Betty Prayter

Death date: 18 October 1926

Death place: Yatesville, Upson County, Georgia

Age: 62

Birthdate: 05 Sept. 1864

Certificate No: 4179369

Now, I asked the question, where was his mother Betty Prayter in 1880?  Was Harrison Kendall the paternal or maternal grandfather of Wesley Kendall (aka John Wesley Kendall)?  Well, the following marriage information was found on familysearch.org, and it opened up more doors:  Bosan Prater to Betty Kendall, married Oct. 30, 1873, Upson County, Georgia.  Betty Kendall Prater was then found in 1880 living with her husband and their children. Apparently, her son, Wesley Kendall, chose to live his maternal grandparents, Harrison & Darcus Kendall, rather than reside with his mother and stepfather.

1880 Upson County, Georgia (Jug District):  Boss (Bosan) Prater (30), wife, Bettie (32), and children, Delia (7), Clara (5), Amos (2), and Paul (5 months).

1870 Upson County, Georgia (Thomaston District): Wesley Kendall was reported in his grandparents Harrison & Darcus “Darkess” Kendall’s household. However, a woman named Bettie Kendall with a 5-year-old John were living nearby. Perhaps, young Wesley (aka John Wesley) was reported twice in the 1870 census?

Also, a woman named Rhoda Chapman, age 60, was living with Harrison & Darcus? Was Rhoda the mother of one of them?  Perhaps, Rhoda would be another generation up Anthony’s family tree, possibly being his great-great-great-great-great-grandmother! 5 greats!

In the 1870 Upson County, GA census, I noticed other African-American Kendall families in the district. Could it be that there was a white Kendall slave-holding family in Upson County before 1865? The answer to that question was YES!  The 1860 Upson County slave schedule revealed one Kendall slave-owner in the county – David Kendall Sr., 61 slaves, 14 slave houses. See the following (the first page of Kendall's listing; only the age, sex, and color of enslaved African Americans were reported in the slave schedules.):

I then decided to google the following: Kendall “Upson County” Georgia.  The search results led me to two great findings:

(1)   A picture and biographical data on Dr. David Lane Kendall Sr. that was uploaded to FindAGrave. He was a physician in the county who built and resided at Bellwood Plantation.  He died in July 1860 in Upson County. The site contained the following picture:

Dr. David Lane Kendall Sr.

1790 – 1860

Posted by Alton Christie

(2)   Dr. David Lane Kendall's daughter, Loula Kendall Rogers, donated the family papers to Emory University here in Atlanta! According to the online finding aid, many of the documents date back during slavery, before 1865. Even some of the photographs date back to slavery, so who knows what may be in there!  

 

To go from knowing very little to knowing the names of ancestors going back to great-great-great-great-grandparents, a possible fifth-great-grandmother, the name of the slave-owner, and the name of the plantation in which the ancestors were likely enslaved would be a dream come true for many!  It was indeed a treat for me to take some time to uncover this information for Anthony – all at my computer!  When he and his family decide to pursue the Kendall research further, there’s just no telling what else will be uncovered.

Note: Technology and the digitization of pertinent records have greatly aided genealogical quests, but personal research excursions to state, local, and federal archives, courthouses, family history centers, libraries, ancestral cemeteries, and other places are still highly recommended to find more necessary documentation.

THERE'S MORE! Click here to read Part 2 of this research story!

Unearthing Hidden Jewels

Photo by Dennis Cox

Let me be frank. I cannot imagine going through life without having vast knowledge about the accomplishments of my own ancestors, the people whose blood flows through my veins.  In addition to having knowledge about Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Frederick Douglass, Harriet Tubman, Rosa Parks, and many other noted African Americans who are often commemorated during Black History Month, I want to know as much as I can about my past family members who made a difference in their communities in their own ways. I’ve been researching since 1993, and I realize that (1) I still have a lot to learn about their accomplishments, and (2) researching to unearth those hidden and untold “jewels” will be a life-long journey.  Recently, Angela Walton-Raji made these facts very evident!

While attending the AAHGS conference in Little Rock, Arkansas in October 2011, Angela, a renowned genealogist, historian, and my “genealogy buddy” for nearly 20 years, became fascinated by the buried accomplishments and life of Madam Martha “Mattie” E. Danner Hockenhull. Angela also happens to be the great-great-granddaughter of my great-great-grandfather Pleasant Barr’s second wife Amanda Young.  She had no idea that Mattie Hockenhull was my maternal grandmother’s aunt, my great-grandmother’s sister.  Instead of me sharing how researching Mattie Hockenhull led Cousin Angela back to me, check out her blog post, “The Search For and Discovery of Madam Martha Danner Hockenhull.”

I first learned about Aunt Mattie from my late and dear cousin, Vivian Ivory Jones, when I moved to Memphis, Tennessee in 1996. Cousin Vivian shared how Aunt Mattie had owned a beauty shop in Pine Bluff, Arkansas during the 1910’s and 1920’s. Aunt Mattie’s only child, Isaac Hockenhull, married the late great gospel singer, Mahalia Jackson, in Chicago, IL.  That was all that was basically shared with me about her. Then, Cousin Vivian, whose grandmother Frances Danner Howard was also my great-grandmother’s sister, pulled out the following picture of her.  Aunt Mattie was obviously a lady of style and elegance.

Madam Martha “Mattie” Ella Danner Hockenhull

(1873 – 1937)

Yesterday, I got a Facebook message from Cousin Angela. In addition to her findings that she revealed in her blog post, she recently found more about Aunt Mattie!  Not only did Aunt Mattie run her own beauty shop in Pine Bluff, Arkansas during the early 1900’s, not only did she publish a series of publications about beauty techniques in 1917 (see Angela’s blog post for pictures), not only was she the former mother-in-law of Mahalia Jackson, but this elegant lady, who was born just eight years after slavery near Como, Mississippi, also ran a correspondence school!  This additional fact was discovered in a 1917 edition of the Muskogee Cimeter, a black newspaper published in Oklahoma.  Excitingly, Angela also expressed the following, “Note that in 1917, she had a telephone! Most families did not get phones till the 1950’s! She was ahead of her time!” I am so proud to claim this lady as my great-grand-aunt!  One can only imagine what else will be unearthed, not only about Aunt Mattie, but about others with whom I share DNA. The same goes for you, too!

 1917 article from the Muskogee Cimeter newspaper; shared by Angela Walton-Raji

Many Thanks to Angela!

How “150 Years Later” Came To Be

 (See reunion documentary below.)

     150 Years Later: Broken Ties Mended takes the reader on the journey of solving my great-grandfather Bill Reed’s mysterious history.  I call it a historical mystery novel that incorporated a great deal of genealogy research....and patience.  I am still in awe of the amount of records and the types of fascinating records that fell into my lap during the years when I would often pray to God and ask Him to help me with this mystery. One of the unique records was a very revealing letter written by the slave-owner’s widow, Rebecca Reid Barr.  The stories that my family elders told me of Grandpa Bill’s experiences as a slave in South Carolina stayed fixated in my mind since high school.  Because of that, I felt that it was my life mission to unravel this mystery.  I never imagined in a million years that the ultimate outcome of solving this mystery would culminate into an unprecedented, emotional reunion....150 years later.

     You see, in 1859 near Abbeville, South Carolina, my 12-year-old great-grandfather was forever separated from his family. Grandpa Bill's father was sold away, and his mother, grandmother, and other family members were all transported away from the state soon afterwards. He never laid eyes on them ever again, and he and a younger sister Mary were soon sold to a local Reid slave-owner. Shortly after becoming free people, he and others left South Carolina on a wagon train pulled by mules and migrated to northern Mississippi.  Family elders remarked jovially of how they had been told that Mississippi was the “land of milk and honey with fat pigs running around with apples in their mouths.” Grandpa Bill died near Senatobia, Mississippi in 1937, at the age of 91, never learning the whereabouts of his family members, who were actually living not too far from him . . . in the same state!

     Before his demise, Grandpa Bill sat underneath his sycamore tree on his 300-acre farm and told his children and grandchildren many stories about his early years in South Carolina.  He was not a tight-lipped man, and my family elders remembered many stories that he shared, especially my late cousin and his grandson, Isaac Deberry, Sr. (1914–2009).  That overwhelmingly valuable oral history propelled the research and led to me solving this longtime mystery.  Despite the stories, no one knew why Grandpa Bill was separated from his family. No one knew where his family members ended up.  He told his family who his father was – a man named Pleasant Barr – and recounted the day he watched with great sadness as his father was placed on a wagon and forever taken away, but even Grandpa Bill never knew where he ended up, according to my elders.  And before I started to research it, no one could remember exactly where in South Carolina they were all from. 

     Ultimately, the mysteries were solved, many descendants were located, and a family reunion of a lifetime was held in Atlanta and in Abbeville, South Carolina beginning August 7, 2009, a day after my birthday.  Over 250 descendants came together for the first time.  My cousin and video producer, Kristina Hayes of Atlanta, produced this wonderful documentary about the reunion.  Yet, after the reunion, I pondered over the thought of writing a book about the entire experience – the good, the great, and the not-so-great.  The ancestors were tired of me pondering about it.  “You must do it” was the feeling that I was getting. 

     And so I finally gave in. On one Saturday morning in October 2009, I sat at my table and started writing.  The ancestors immediately took over and guided my fingers across the keyboard of my laptop.  How do I know that they guided this?  Well, even now when I pick up the book to re-read various parts, I honestly do not remember writing it.  That’s how I know.  The ancestors had intervened, and 150 Years Later was written in about five months and ultimately released on July 28, 2011. They wanted the story told, and I honored their wishes.  

Documentary:  Families Reunited After 150 Years of Separation, Part 1 of 5

 

Part 2
Part 3
Part 4
Part 5

(Total: 30 minutes)

Book website: www.150yearslater.com

Grandma Was Right!

My father and my Grandma, Willie Ealy Collier

Taken in 1941, Lena, Mississippi

       Growing up, I was very fortunate to have a very close relationship with my Dad’s parents, George C. Collier & Willie Ealy Collier.  My childhood days were filled with fishing trips with them and driving them to church, to family and church functions in Leake County, Mississippi, to grocery and retail stores in Canton, Jackson, and Carthage to shop, and I even spent numerous days at their house just "chillin" or working in their garden with them.  Although they lived within the town of Canton, Grandma and Granddaddy still maintained a very large garden in their back yard – an extension of their rural upbringing.  I would not take a billion dollars for the close bond I had with them; that special bond helped to shape who I am today.  During the eighteen years I was blessed to have them in my life, Grandma would often observe me and would say to me, “Buster, you sure do have plenty of my blood in you.”    

       One may say, “Of course you do. She was your grandmother. That’s like one-fourth (25%) of your DNA.”  But, Grandma was not my biological grandmother – she and Granddaddy were Dad’s adoptive parents.  It was not a secret.  I have always known this every since I can remember.  The tall (6’3”), slender, and caring man who was biologically responsible for my father’s existence was Grandma’s double first cousin, Hulen Kennedy.  Everyone mostly called him “Newt”.  He was also responsible for making sure that my father was raised in Leake County among his side of the family and in a loving and stable household that contained two school teachers – my wonderful grandparents.  “Newt” Kennedy was adamant that no child of his would be raised in the Mississippi Delta, a place he considered “neo-slavery,” so to speak.  Grandma would often explain her “double kinship” to him by saying something like “brothers and sisters married brothers and sisters.”  As a young teenager, this didn’t sound quite right to me. Almost sounded kind of incestuous, but it was not.  Nevertheless, I didn’t ask her to go into details to explain what she meant.  I was more interested in going outside and riding my red Honda Elite motor scooter that she and Granddaddy purchased for my 15th birthday. Yes, they spoiled me. LOL

 Willie Ealy Collier (1904 - 1990) and Hulen "Newt" Kennedy (1888 - 1970)

Double First Cousins

       Born in 1888 near Lena in Leake County, Hulen “Newt” Kennedy was the fourth of five children born to Albert Kennedy and Martha (Sissie) Ealy Kennedy.  I vividly recall Grandma relaying to me how her father’s sister (Hulen's mother) was blown away in a storm – I’m assuming a tornado – that struck southern Leake County, Mississippi when her five kids (Dora, William, Robert, Hulen, and Wilson) were rather young.  This happened around 1895.  She never called her aunt’s name because this tragic event occurred before she was born.  Still, that “double kinship” between her and Hulen didn’t become very clear to me until I started researching my family history two and a half years after Grandma had passed away.  It didn’t take long to figure out why she would say “brothers and sisters married brothers and sisters.”  To better understand this, here’s a diagram: 

 

       However, finding the marriage records for these three “siblings marriages” made Grandma’s statement very clear.  Indeed, siblings had married siblings.  Also, my grandfather Hulen’s 1940 social security application, one of many genealogical sources to learn the names of parents, also revealed his parents’ names. You can click here to access the Social Security Death Index. 

 Hulen Kennedy's Social Security application, Nov. 4, 1940

        On Sunday night, March 26, 2012, over 20 years later, this double kinship was confirmed by DNA analysis that was conducted by 23andMe.  Three weeks prior, a new male relative appeared in my Relative Finder database, and our predicted relationship was second cousins. I was excited. This was close kin!  Who could this person be?  Names are not shown until an invitation to connect is approved, so I immediately sent an introduction in order to find out this male relative's identity and to determine how we could be second cousins.  After three weeks of anxiously waiting, he finally accepted my invitation that Sunday night, and his name became visible.  I was lucky because many people have reported that their invitations are not being answered.  He was Lenro Morgan of Seattle, Washington. Although Lenro and I have never met in person, I knew exactly who he was and how we're related.  We had been Facebook friends for several months, but I didn't know that he had also taken 23andMe's DNA test.  Lenro is the grandson of Bobbie Ann Ealy Morgan, the daughter of couple no. 3 in the diagram above – Robert Ealy Jr. & Mattie Kennedy.  Bobbie Ann, Grandma, and my grandfather Hulen were all double first cousins; therefore, we were actually double third cousins, not second cousins. 

       Geneticists have calculated that third cousins share an average of 0.781% DNA.  Click here to see a complete DNA sharing chart. Therefore, the average for double third cousins will then be 1.562%.  23andMe determined that Lenro and I share 2.07% DNA across 7 chromosome segments (155 cM), which is greater than the average and enough to be classified as second cousins.  When I compared our numbers to the average and saw how much DNA that we share, I could hear Grandma’s words loud and clear, “You have plenty of my blood in you.”  Grandma was right!

(Update: My father's DNA results are in, and he and Lenro share 3.68% across 14 segments [274 cM]. My father also shares 2.30% across 6 segments [171 cM] with Violet Jones, the great-granddaughter of couple no. 1 in the diagram above - Paul Ealy and Adaline Kennedy.)

 Couple no. 1 – Paul Ealy & Adaline Kennedy Ealy (Grandma's parents)
Paul's picture was shared by Lynda Rowe-Campbell. Adaline's picture was shared by Helen Crump.

 Couple no. 2 – Albert Kennedy & Martha (Sissie) Ealy Kennedy (Hulen's parents)

Couple no. 3 - Robert Ealy Jr. & Mattie Kennedy Ealy (Bobbie Ann's parents)

Click HERE to read the full history of the Ealy Family of Leake County, Mississippi.

Name Discrepancies Can Often Lead to More

This revised research article, originally entitled Name Discrepancy Unlocks Ancestral Doors, was written on 01/03/2011. I am transferring it to my blog because it chronicles how the name of the previous enslaver of a female ancestor was identified. This article expounds on research methodologies that others can employ to trace a formerly enslaved female ancestor who lived passed 1870.

 John Hector Davis

1870 – 1932

(My great-grandfather, who was the grandson of Grandma Peggy Milam, Como, Mississippi)

     Since I was 19 years old, when I first walked into the Mississippi Department of Archives and History (MDAH) in Jackson, I've always felt that my ancestors had this peculiar hold on me. I have always sensed that they wanted their names to be called.  An African proverb states, "As long as you are remembered, you never die."  My ancestors wanted to live again by having their names spoken and the stories of their lives uncovered in order to make me a stronger person, as well as their descendants, giving me a sense of who I am and the powerful knowledge of whose blood flows through my veins.  Nearly two decades later, that "hold" is still very strong today, and it won't let go.  Frankly, I don't want it to go.  While I was home in Mississippi for the holidays, that "hold" coerced me to get out of bed and head down to the MDAH. I had not planned to visit the Archives before I went back to Atlanta. However, my ancestors had other plans. They had something in store for me.

     When I started researching my maternal grandmother's family back in 1993, while I was in college, I was fortunate to have a number of elder family members alive who happily clarified and corroborated information I was unearthing in a plethora of records. They also provided valuable clues.  Oral history is extremely valuable.  With relative ease, I was able to trace back to my grandmother's paternal and maternal grandparents -- my great-great-grandparents. I was even able to go back to my great-great-great-grandparents.  One was Margaret "Peggy" Milam. 

     Grandma Peggy was found in the 1870 and 1880 censuses living near my Mom's hometown of Senatobia, Mississippi (present-day Tate County).  In 1870, her age was reported as 35; ten years later in 1880, her age was reported as 54.  Age discrepancies were common since many enslaved African Americans did not know their birth dates due to the unjustly laws of the land. Grandma Peggy had to have been older than 35 in 1870, since my great-great-grandmother "Mama Lucy," her oldest daughter, was around 24 years old that year.  Nevertheless, I had placed Grandma Peggy's time of birth as sometime between 1826 - 1830. She was born somewhere in Tennessee and ended up in northern Mississippi by 1846. 

     Although my elders did not remember Grandma Peggy, they knew that her daughter, "Mama Lucy," had "come off the old Milam place" in Tate County. Further research revealed that the "old Milam place" was the farm of Joseph Randolph Milam, who had settled in northern Mississippi from Madison County, Alabama around 1835.  Fortunately, his family history was included in a book I found at the MDAH entitled The Heritage of Tate County, Mississippi, published by the Tate County Genealogical & Historical Society in 1991.  By 1860, Joseph amassed many acres of land and 30 enslaved African Americans, according to the 1860 DeSoto County slave schedule (Tate County was part of DeSoto County prior to 1873).  "Mama Lucy," her father Grandpa Wade, her mother Grandma Peggy, and her younger siblings were among that number.

     One of many records that had been instrumental in tracing back another generation was death certificates.  Death certificates provide the father's name, the mother's maiden name, birthplaces, and other great information.  I had decided that I wanted to know more about Grandma Peggy's origins. Where in Tennessee did she come from?  Under what circumstances during slavery were she brought down to northern Mississippi?  Was she separated from her own parents and siblings?  Who were they?  The questions were mounting, and I wanted answers.  I'd deduced that if I'm able to figure out what her maiden name was considered to be, then it may open up doors.  Luckily, I located three of her children's death certificates.  All of them reported something differently. It left me bewildered. 

Death Certificate No. 1

Her son, Hugh Lewers, who died in Memphis, Tennessee in 1938

Name of Father: George Lewers

Maiden Name of Mother: MARGARET WARREN

Death Certificate No. 2

Her son, Will Milam, who died in Tate County, Mississippi in 1950

Name of Father: Wade Milam

Maiden Name of Mother: MARGARET BRISCOE

Death Certificate No. 3

Her daughter, Lucy Milam Davis (my great-great-grandmother), who died in Tate County, Mississippi in 1927

 Name of Father: Wade Milam

Maiden Name of Mother: NOT GIVEN

     One death certificate reported that Grandma Peggy's maiden name was WARREN.  The second one reported that her maiden name was BRISCOE.  The third one did not report her maiden name.  Apparently, my great-grandfather's brother, Uncle Tom Davis, did not know his grandmother's maiden name.  Interestingly, a fourth death certificate was found, and it was of Grandma Peggy's son, Hence Milam, who died in Memphis, Tennessee in 1937.  The father's name was reported as Wade Milam, and the mother's maiden name was reported as "Peggie ------".  Like Uncle Tom Davis, Hence Milam's son did not know Grandma Peggy's maiden name.

     Why did one person think that Grandma Peggy's maiden name was Warren, and why did another person think that her maiden name was Briscoe?  I strongly felt that there had to be a reason why those two surnames were recalled by Margaret Quick (Uncle Hugh Lewers' daughter) and Ruthine Milam (Uncle Will Milam's wife).  How on earth would I be able to piece together this difficult puzzle?

     I decided to look for any slave-owners in Tate and Panola County with the Warren and Briscoe surnames. None were found.  Since the "old Milam place" was just eight miles from the Marshall County line, I researched the censuses for that county and discovered that there were white Warrens and white Briscoes there.  Even more interesting, the white Briscoes that lived there were Notley Warren Briscoe and his brother, James Warren Briscoe.  The Briscoe brothers had settled in Marshall County around 1840 from Maury County, Tennessee.  This was indeed an eye-opener, as Grandma Peggy was born in Tennessee circa 1826 - 1830.  Perhaps, they brought Grandma Peggy down to Mississippi with them?  Also, other research findings revealed that Joseph R. Milam conducted a lot of business in Marshall County, where his parents and brothers resided.  Perhaps, he went to Marshall County to acquire slaves for his Tate County farm?   Did he purchase Grandma Peggy from one of the Briscoe brothers?  That possibility seemed very real, considering the Warren and Briscoe name confusion.  Again, I asked the question -- How on earth would I be able to piece together this difficult puzzle?

     The aforementioned research discoveries were all uncovered prior to 2003.  Now, seven years had passed, and I hadn't attempted to find the missing pieces of the family history puzzle.  I had placed it on the back-burner, and my ancestors were not happy.  On the morning of Thursday, December 30, 2010, at my parents' home in Canton, I awoke to the sound of my nephew Jordan talking on the telephone with his buddy, Josiah.  As I comfortably laid in the bed thinking about my plans for the day, I got this sudden urge to visit the MDAH to conduct some research.  Grandma Peggy's mystery popped in my mind.  She was nudging at me, so I decided to answer her call.  I suddenly got dressed and made the 30-minute drive down Interstate 55 to Jackson.  My goal was to research the microfilmed deed records (bills of sale, deeds of gift, deeds of trust, etc.) for Marshall County.

     Many people who research their histories know exactly what I mean when I say that an ancestor was "nudging at me."  We can't explain the feeling in specific details.  Just take our word for it.  Well, Grandma Peggy's nudge yielded an amazing find in the Marshall County deed records.  On August 14, 1839, Edward Warren, Jr. deeded six slaves to his second cousin, James Warren Briscoe.  It was apparent from the deed that Edward had accumulated a lot of debt, and his property (slaves) were his means of settling some of his debt.  Edward had recently settled in Marshall County from the Tennessee hills of Williamson County, bringing his slaves with him.  The deed states the following:

. . . the party of the first part (Edward Warren) do hereby bargain sell and confirm to the party of the second part (James W. Briscoe) all the following described property to wit: six negroes viz; Adam aged about 55 years, Sarah aged about 40 years, Sam aged about 14 years, MARGARET aged about 10 years, Calidonia aged about 8 years, Random aged about 23 years and one half of the growing crop of cotton in cultivation by the party of the first party, also three heads of horses, 6 head of cattle, fifty head of sheep, 46 hogs, also all one bureau with all the household and kitchen furniture to have and to hold all the before mentioned property . . .

     I was not able to locate the slave purchase transaction between Joseph R. Milam and James W. Briscoe, but Grandma Peggy (Margaret) was enslaved on Joseph Milam's farm by 1846, the year she gave birth to my great-great-grandmother "Mama Lucy," who was fathered by another Milam slave, Wade.  That document would be crucial to this research.  However, what also caught my eye about this finding was the naming pattern.  The six slaves named in the deed most likely represents a family, and Edward Warren's probate record (he died three years later in 1842) verified that Adam and Sarah were indeed husband and wife.  Sam, Margaret, Calidonia, and Random were most probably their children.  Remarkably, Grandma Peggy left behind clues by naming one of her daughters "Sarah" (Sarah Milam Mabry), and the unique name "Caledonia" was given to at least two of her granddaughters.  As I sat and gazed at the Warren-Briscoe deed, reality sunk in -- I had finally solved the mystery!  Grandma Peggy was pleased.