Joseph Martin DENTON had two families. Why? Reading on reveals that Joseph was familiar with death in his life, having lost 4 family members along the way. The photo below shows his family around the year 1895.
He was 19 years old when he married Mary Jane TINSLEY, age 21 on the 11th of November 1882 in Bradley County Tennessee. Continue reading
What were soldiers like during the Civil War years? Some young kindred got an idea this past summer when they visited Forts Sumter and Moultrie in Charleston South Carolina where a re-enactment was held.
The temperature was about 90 degrees F and the guys were wearing long sleeved, wool uniforms.
S W E A T Y !!!!! At least the gal had on her big hoops to help with air flow.
Only four farms separated the two in 1860 when the census was taken. Since most of the Cassville, GA area was farmed, the distance could have been appreciable. Martha Ann GILREATH was 7 years old at the time living with her farming family while Western Hardy LINN or “Wheat” as he was known, helped with the family farm as a 12 year old young man.
They lived through the Civil War [1861-1865], she as a child and he a teenager. Both of their father’s served in the Confederate army, namely, George Holton GILREATH and Alfred Martin LINN. Although Western could possibly have fought, it appears that he did not. In 1864 their town of Cassville was ravaged so badly by the Union Army that it was only known by that name in memory and history books afterwards. But the dark night of war and destruction didn’t deter the sunrise of Martha and Western’s future.
Map of Bartow County GA in 1869
By 1872 Martha, age 19 had made quite an impression upon Western “Wheat”. He began courting her via the written word [spelling and punctuation corrected]. Move over Mr. Darcy.
14 Sep 1872 Cassville GA
Dear Martha,Will you permit me to write. You did not ___ it is time___ give me the liberty to write to you neither did you decidedly forbid it therefore Continue reading
For thousands of years people have told stories about sad things, happy things, miraculous things, and everything in between. Stories are an amazing thing whether they be fiction or fact, because stories help us understand ourselves and the situations that we find ourselves in.
At its core, a story is really just a sequence of events put in a particular order with specific characters. But because we humans are rational creatures the specifics create a context through which we understand why and how people fit together. And because we are emotional creatures, we then start to care about what happens next. It’s in the caring, that we invest ourselves in something outside our own specific set of experiences.
The Neverending Story was a children’s novel originally written in German by Michael Ende.
In Michael Ende’s novel, “Die unendliche Geschichte” [translated: “The Neverending Story”], the main character reads a magical book which he himself directly affects. When he sneezes, the characters hear it. When he talks, they respond in the narrative. Obviously fiction, this book points to the reality that a good story takes you to a place that is not about you – but it is about you -but it’s not about you – but it really is about you. Stories are a safe in-between place. They are where we can think about a someone or a something that is not directly a part of us, but where we can put the memories of our own experiences into order.
We are not made to memorize lists or unrelated facts. Humans are creatures of context, we are wired to understand and even thirst after narrative. Professional storyteller, Bill Harley, sums up the purpose of stories by telling us that: “stories tell us how we got where we are and how we imagine where we might go.” If we want something to be memorable, it must be story.
Is your family history a story?
Check out Bill Harley’s TEDx Talk for more inspirational ideas about stories:
written by Bessie – Contributing Author
If you’d like to be a contributing author, contact us at: mykindredtree@gmail.com
A few years ago I was happily searching (again) on the internet for information about William GILREATH, the same one from the Revolutionary War period. What I found was an invitation to a GILREATH family reunion at Amicalola Falls, the southern start of the Appalachian Trail. What was amazing was that the information wasn’t already 5 years old and the event hadn’t even passed. So, I went.
A happy bunch of kindred were gathered at the shelter, staging their crock pots and cakes on the folding tables. One table was dedicated to pictures of all sorts of GILREATHS mostly from the north Georgia area. A blessing was offered on the food and the line formed.
There are a few things you can really look forward to at a reunion of southerners, besides the fascination of mingling with folks you share DNA with. One of them is a big pot of field peas hiding in their own murky gray waters; you know, the kind easily caught by a large slotted spoon. Another thing is a platter of thickly sliced, homegrown tomatoes; lots of them. Hopefully cornbread will be within reach to push it all in the right direction and sop up the juices.
Well, they’re up to it again. This Saturday in fact. The invitation reads:
‘Gathering about 10:00 a.m. . . . . . lunch shortly after Noon’
I’m counting on the ‘shortly after Noon’ part.
The invitation notes the potential of Kenneth and Melvin GILREATH being in attendance. This is a really cool thing because Kenneth and Melvin have compiled and written an extensive history of the GILREATH family going back to William GILREATH in Wilkes County, NC in the 1700’s. It is believed that all GILREATHs in the USA are his descendants and that he most likely immigrated from Aberdeen, Scotland.
Kenneth and Melvin are cousins who spent hours, days, and years researching this family line. They are like walking encyclopedias when it comes to the GILREATH clan. In the preface to their body of research they state, “The enclosed papers are being freely donated to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints . . . We are certain the church archives will always maintain, and make available to the public, copies of all our efforts in the same generous manner as they have all other family related material in the past.”
The title of the record is ” Descendants of William GILREATH” and can be ordered on microfiche at LDS Family History Libraries located all over the world.
So, if I don’t see you on saturday, keep the first weekend in August open on next year’s calendar.
If you’re reading this post because you’re a descendant of any person written about in ‘My Kindred Tree .com” you are probably an American citizen. You may not know exactly how deep your roots run in America but your heritage of American ancestors would describe you as VERY AMERICAN.
A few ancestors alive in the year 1776 include:
Phillip DEEN – He enlisted as a private in 1779 in Coleman’s Company, 10th North Carolina Regiment in the Revolutionary War. Married Rachel.
One of Two Remaining Revolutionary War Flags
William GILREATH – Born about 1733. Lived in North Carolina. Found on the enlistment rolls of soldiers that went to Kings Mountain, SC. Settled in Greenville SC with youngest son Jesse. Married Mary ARRINGTON.
Charles Austin BRUCE – Virginia was his birthplace in 1744. His daughter Mary, married Jesse GILREATH, son of William. Buried in Greer South Carolina. Married Margaret RAMSEY. Wrote a letter to Thomas JEFFERSON.
Letter to Thomas JEFFERSON from Charles BRUCE
Thomas DENTON – About 33 years old at the time of the revolution. Married Elizabeth. Both from Virginia.
Solomon LANGSTON – Born in 1732 and married Sarah BENNETT. They were patriots residing in Greenville, SC. His children were very active in the revolution. One of his daughters, Dicey, is considered a Patriot Heroine.
Solomon LANGSTON protected from British Soildiers by daughter Dicey
As you can see below, Alfred Martin LINN was in the Civil War. He is wearing the uniform of the Confederacy, known as the CSA which stood for ‘Confederate States of America’.
Alfred Martin LINN in Confederate Uniform of the Civil War
Before the Civil War, Alfred served as a sheriff in Bartow County (1848-1850) and also served in the Inferior Court of the County. Before the war, Bartow County was known as Cass County. After enlisting, he quickly became a Captain in the GA 63rd Infantry Regiment.
HOW DOES HE RELATE TO YOU? In 1837 he married Frances Ann HACKETT and they had a rich family of 13 children. His son Western Hardy “Wheat” LINN and wife Martha (Mattie) A. GILREATH were the parents of Max Augustus LINN.
Some things learned from these few details of Alfred’s life are:
Partial of an ancestral Fan Chart from Familysearch.org
‘My Kindred Tree’ has highlighted many ancestors. Perhaps you knew some of them when they walked the earth with us while others mentioned on the site may have left you scratching your head as to who they are. There is a way to find out . . . Continue reading
Odella, or Della HARKNESS married James S. HOLDER in 1909 when she was about 35 years old. It was a first marriage for her but a second one for Jim, as he was known. Her new husband’s daughters, Bertha, Eula, and Mamie made her an instant mother. The three little girls lost their birth mother, Alma JACKSON 3 years earlier.
There are several childhood remembrances of a living relative that add a bit of texture to knowing Della better. It seems that childhood memory is a lot like taking a snapshot with a camera, it captures details of a moment in time that often become the only thing recalled for an entire event, vacation, or year.
Here are a few memories: Continue reading
Julia Ward Howe, known for writing the lyric to ‘The Battle Hymn of the Republic” was deeply disturbed by the carnage of the Civil War. She created a ‘Mother’s Day Proclamation’ in 1870 and wrote a poem about Mother’s not tolerating others leading their sons away from goodness. Here is part of what she penned:
Arise, then, women of this day!
Arise all women who have hearts,
Whether your baptism be that of water or of tears
Say firmly:
“We will not have great questions decided by irrelevant agencies,
Our husbands shall not come to us reeking of carnage,
For caresses and applause.
Our sons shall not be taken from us to unlearn
All that we have been able to teach them of
charity, mercy and patience.
She must have believed that a nation is only as great as it’s women. She created a “Mother’s Friendship Day” to honor peace . It’s purpose was to reunite families and neighbors that were divided by the Civil War. The holiday was observed in several U.S. cities until Howe stopped funding it.
In 1908, Anna Reeves Jarvis created “Mother’s Day” and her daughter Anna M. followed it through to a U.S. official holiday in 1914. They too, wanted to honor motherhood and it’s powerful influence for good. The unexpected commercialization of the holiday left daughter Anna trying to “undo” the holiday the rest of her life.
A few kindred women that were mothers before “Mother’s Day” became official were: Martha STEPHENS 1872-1914, Elizabeth FITZGERALD 1870-1912, Mary COCHRAN 1853-1925 and Odella HARKNESS 1873-1944. Look for a new post about Odella soon.
My Kindred Tree 