On the eve of the Civil War, there were 1.6 million Irish born people in the United States (about 6% of the white population). Within that 6% of Irish born, 11% lived in the SouthEastern U.S. mostly concentrated in the 5 cities of Continue reading
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Three Brothers
There were three brothers and two sisters in the HOPKINS family. James HOPKINS and Myrtle DENTON HOPKINS were raising their family in Sandersville GA in 1930. Where is Sandersville anyway? Why did they land there? What were they doing? Continue reading
Learn How To Be A Detective for FREE
A few weeks ago, the 4th annual ‘Roots Tech’ conference was held. It was the largest gathering of its kind in North America and if you include the 622 remote broadcast locations, it became the largest gathering of its kind in the world. The sponsoring websites Continue reading
Gleaning DNA Testing
You may have received several posts with the same video clip about DNA testing. All you need is one clip (I’m experiencing a learning curve today) and it is well worth watching to better understand all the tests available. Jim Rader presented at the latest Roots Tech Conference:
DNA Revelations
Image courtesy of Dan FreeDigitalPhotos.net
It would be really cool to have a crystal ball to tell us what we don’t know about our heritage. DNA testing is probably as close as we’ll come.
What can you learn by sending spit and money to a laboratory? The first thing is finding out where your ancestors originated from, about 500 years ago before the age of travel. The second is to find clues to certain health predispositions that are happily waiting for an opportunity to show themselves in your body. There is more to learn from DNA testing but it may take a degree in DNAology to understand it.
The science of knowing about ourselves through genetic composition continues to develop.
Recently two kindred family members sent DNA to be tested by the company ’23And Me’.
If you descend from Charles Eugene HOPKINS you will share a bit of what a grandchild learned from the testing.
Basically, you are 99% European. Within that percentage, you are about 28% British & Irish, 1.2% French & German, about 60% Northern European, and about 9.8% Nonspecific European.
The remaining 1% that is not European interestingly enough has .4% West Africa, .1% Oceanian (Australia area), and .4% unassigned. There was no American Indian found in this DNA.
If you descend from Evelyn Roberta Barker DEAN and Brad DEAN:
You are 99.7% European. The other .3% is unassigned. The breakdown on your mostly European heritage is 22.7% British & Irish, 1.2% French & German, .5% Scandinavian, 46.7% Nonspecific North European, 11.3% Ashkenazi, 17.2% Nonspecific European. Again, no American Indian.
Elsberry B JACKSON and Christmas Day
Elsberry B. JACKSON was born on Christmas day about 1859 * in Georgia.
He married his first wife Mary (Mollie) J. COKER on Christmas Day in 1879. The 25th of December was a special day. 
He and Mollie had the following children:
- Alma Josephine – born 9 July 1882 (mother of Eula Mae HOLDER LINN)
- Manson T. – born Aug 1885
- William Grady – born Jan 1890
- Lillian Amelia – born 1891
The Way Things Were
According to the census records, Elsberry never learned to read or write. It’s hard to imagine not being able to read a street sign, a letter, the Bible, a novel, directions; never expressing your thoughts in a journal or letter.
From the book Race and Schooling in the South 1880-1950 by Robert Margo (Un. of Chicago Press) come the following statistics of those who were illiterate:
- Year Blacks Whites
- 1880 76% 21.5%
- 1930 19.7% 3.8%
Elsberry fell into a pretty exclusive percentage of less than 4% by the year 1930. It’s amazing to see how much work was done to educate people, especially blacks during this time period. Before emancipation, it was illegal to teach slaves to read or write.
Family story indicates that E.B. had some type of walking disability as well. Still, he was able to work as a farm laborer in his early years and when in his 60’s ran an elevator, probably at the local cotton mill. Near the JACKSON family in Henry County was the WEEM Plantation. The largest slave burial site in Georgia was discovered there in 2011. The 4000 acre farm estate, established in 1848 by Samuel WEEMS is now part subdivision and woods. Click HERE to read more about the cemetery.
Mary (Mollie) J. COKER died in Jun 1891. Seven years later, he married another Mary J. who’s last name was CROWELL.
Mary Jane CROWELL JACKSON (sitting) with daughters Luvene and Emmie
They married in March instead of December. Together they had three children:
- Raymond – born July 1901
- Luvene – born Sep 1905
- Emmie – born abt 1912
*All census records establish this date as his birth although his tombstone says it is 1849.
A Royal Heritage
A young friend of mine recently spoke to the congregation about his genealogy. He mentioned that his mother was descended from a King. I thought he forgot that her genealogy is his genealogy and that HE is descended from a King as well!
It’s a good thing to feel special about yourself when learning that your ancestors were somehow special. The surname BRUCE appears in the line of Max Augustus LINN as his great grandmother. BRUCE may be related to royalty of the Scottish. More research is in order before we claim Robert the BRUCE.
Finding a noble ancestor in the kindred tree can give a feeling of worth that helps us know how important we are. The word ‘noble’ has two meanings:
1. someone belonging to a family line of high social or political status
2. someone who has fine personal qualities associated with words like virtuous, honorable, upright, decent, ethical, and reputable.
The latter definition seems to be a more desirable and important heritage than the former aristocratic one. The truth about ancestors is that they have had their turn on earth and we cannot change who they are or what they did. We simply cannot choose who our kindred are. Some may have been noble, some may not have been. We can only learn from their examples and make good choices for our selves. It’s hard to imagine, but we too, will leave a legacy to those who come after us. Will it somehow reflect nobleness?
Donald Lawrence, a gospel singer, sings about our potential to find our own nobility, or royalty with this lyric:
You come from royalty . An aristocratic dynasty. . . There’s power when you speak. Be mindful of words you release. . . There is a King in you . . .Watch two ministering mimes perform their interpretation of Donald Lawrence’s song “There is a King in You”:
“Willie” and WWI
William Washington BARKER born in 1898, was in World War I, also known as “The War to End All Wars”. Here is his service record card:
He joined the U.S. army at age 19 on 5 June 1917. He served for about 20 months with only three months service overseas after the war was over. This information along with a good health record during his service indicates that he may have never seen battle.
“Willie” brought back this little leather shoe as a souvenir. It measures 7.5 inches in length and has a wooden sole with the marking of “Galoche Nationale” on it. Perhaps he served in France. Future research might reveal where his company actually served.
William Washington BARKER was the father of Evelyn Roberta BARKER.
Mary ‘Mollie’ Jane COKER
Mary COKER was born the 4th of April 1857* in Henry County, GA. She was a child during the Civil War and evidence indicates that her family was needy during those years. At the age of 22 she married Elsberry B. JACKSON on Christmas day 1879. Together they had 4 children:
1. Manson 2. Alma Josephine 3. William Grady 4. Lillian
She died within the year of Lillian’s birth in 1891 or 1892. She was young.
Daughter Alma Josephine was mother to Eula Mae HOLDER
*The 1900 U.S. Census of Henry County GA records Mary’s birth as Mar 1870 but a family bible records her birth as 4 April 1857.
My Kindred Tree 