I am in Tennessee - Finding roots

The house place in Sneedville is long gone. Sheldon Livesay, a 2nd cousin and head of the Of One Accord ministry in Rogersville, says he thinks it burned down. There is only the foundation of rocks. I am disappointed but we walked on the farm. It was very large and the original land grant was 1000 acres.

For the first time, there is a visual of the home place. My grandfather played in the field and the river. I finally have an understanding of the topography. I was disappointed the house was gone but at the same time, delighted to see the river from the road. They lived in an incredibly beautiful spot; a small river valley between two hills. I understand all those things that my great grandmother mentioned in her letters.

Now my cousin and I are off to Nashville and beyond. The adventure continues.

2 weeks and counting

Growing up, we learned nothing about out Tennessee family. We knew they existed but it was never anyone's priority to share any information other than my great grandfather was murdered in front of his family. I can't think of a single other fact that was discussed.

Many years later, my mother got hooked on genealogy. My parents made a trip to the 1982 World Fair in Knoxville. It was then that my father met his Tennessee cousins for the very first time at the age of 60.

Things tend to repeat themselves so at roughly the same age, I am going to Tennessee. It's two weeks and counting. I have made arrangements to meet some cousins and to have the Sneedville Historical Society open for us to research. My companion on this trip is my cousin who knows as much (or as little) as I know about the family.

Patty and I are surprised at how we accepted the fact that the family was out there but not part of our lives. It might have to do with age but now we want know. These are our roots and part of who we are.

I can describe in detail, Montana and Texas. That's where my parents are from and we spent lots of time traveling to those states. That history is no surprise and I have a very complete family tree on my mother's side. It's my dad's side that has all the mystery. In fact, after we tackle my grandfather's family, I am going after my grandmother's story.

So I am packing. I am taking my family group sheets. I am taking my scanner and camera. I am going to meet my ancestors on their own turf and see what they have to tell me.

Wishful Wednesday - Who was Martha Jane McColloam?

Martha Jane McColloam was my great grandmother. Somehow, I can't seem to let her go. I want, or more so, need to understand who she was. I have five letters she wrote to my grandfather. I have read them over and over again. Still, she eludes me.

The other day at baseball practice when I was refusing to get out of the car, I wrote down the things I know about her from the letters. Maybe they don't add up to a lot but it's a start.

She had a strong tie to her children.
Her children did not want to disappoint her.
She had a great love for her grandchildren.
She was a hard worker.
She managed the farm.
She did not remarry after her husband was murdered.
She was on good terms with her daughter-in-laws and son-in-laws, at least those who lived in town.
She was money savvy.
She was business minded.
She was observant.
She believed in God.
She was in tune with the weather.
She could read and write.
She worried about her children.
She shared into about the community but was not a gossip.
She was never unkind in her comments but some were made with humor.
She was well aware of the event going on in the world.

This is a Wishful Wednesday post so what do I wish? I want to post this and have it all rearrange itself into a full and complete person who I can understand.

Part of the problem I am having is that I have no frame of reference, no setting. In three weeks, I am going to Tennessee, to Sneedville. I will be able to see where she lived. I will be able to walk in her steps. I need to take what I know and add it to what I will see, what I will find. Then maybe, this ultra-strong, self-reliant woman will reveal herself to me. When I have that down, I will be able to move onto the others who are crowding my mind, demanding a hearing.

Photos from the A to Z Blogging Challenge

I have to admit that I have never done a blogging challenge. It's a little more daunting than I thought. First of all, I need to respond to all of those who graciously left me comments. That's not really an issue because all of them have interesting things to share and I am enjoying them. Then...I need to make sure that I have some of my posts ready to go. No problem there except I am struggling with "N". I don't like what I have chosen but can't find another word to use. I am doing destinations and attractions in California.

Now that I am sidetracked, I came here to post historical pictures of my parents and grandfather. I did the La Brea Tar Pits for "L". I can't seem to find any current pictures but did find four when I was going through some of my older photos left to me by my mom.  The pictures were taken in the summer of 1948.

 My parents

 My dad and my grandpa

Grandpa's hat on the tail of the saber-tooth tiger. 

My mom posing.

The pictures are fun because we've spent a lot of time at the tar pits. I wasn't there then, my parents were a newly married couple but this is one of my favorite places to go.

I need more time to play with GeneaBloggers

GeneaBloggers is a really cool site. It's new to me and their daily prompts look interesting. I want to get started there too but am in the middle of the A to Z Blogging Challenge with my Completely California blog and I am finding it hard to manage my time.

Writing the blog isn't a problem. It's finding and scanning the pictures. Yesterday looking for pictures of Kings Canyon and Sequioa, I found pictures of my grandmother's brother and sister in the hundreds of photos and slides my mom left me. I found the Kings Canyon pictures but also pulled the family photos to scan and put on Ancestry.com for later posts. 

Then it hits me that I have spent so much time scanning and posting family photos that I have lost an hour or two that should have been spent working on the posts for the California blog. So it's back to California and the family history will have to wait. 

That might not be a bad thing since I can spend the first part of May getting ready for the trip to Tennessee. Then I can do an in-depth search and really determine what I hope to find in the records there. Fortunately, GeneaBloggers will still be there for me to really play with. Kind of a reward for completing the A to Z challenge.     

 

I joined GeneaBloggers

I see their badge all over the Internet but I wasn't really sure what it was all about. Then yesterday, I read a post on the Monday Morning Mentions on The Armchair Genealogist by Dear Myrtle. I will have to go back and read the whole blog because I don't quite get GeneaBloggers but wow, so many blogs to read. Then, there is the Pinterest page. 

I just started the A to Z blogging challenge so lots of my time is being spent there. I am still planning the trip to Tennessee. There is so much going on and it's spring so I need to get my garden started. All of this is taking away the time I want to spend reading the 3000+ plus blogs on GeneaBloggers. Still, I will get to them eventually because my newest passion in family history and I'm quite sure that I can learn from all the bloggers. I really can't wait. 

The more I learn, the worser my family gets

I am trying to get my act together for the trip to Tennessee to track down the missing answers. I think I've read somewhere my gg grandfather was adopted so that's a dead-end although I plan to really check that out. When my mom did the trip in the 1980's, there wasn't as much documentation.

So I hit RootsWeb. I didn't realize that it was possible to search by name, by county. Imagine my surprise when I found these two tidbits. 


Martha Priscilla Rhea
BIOGRAPHY: She was a twin and her twin brother was named Aquilla and they were Herb Doctors. The common talk or story was that one of Priscilla's brother's did not like her husband and had killed him and put him in the river.Her brother helped her raise her twins James and John Jr.

John McCollom
BIOGRAPHY: His occupation was a music master. He died of unknown causes. He disappeared one day and never was found. He probably was taken by Indians who were raiding in the area at that time. As a young man he came and boarded at the Rhea Station, which was south of Sneedville, Tn. and across the Clinch river. It was the first home of the Rhea family. He met his wife Priscilla Rhea at this Station. 

I have a death date (not verified) for John McCollom. Now, it might be bogus and has to be added to the list of questions to answer. The note on RootsWeb does not identify the brother who didn't like John but it leads one to wonder if if might be John Elijah Rhea Jr. His son, John Carter Rhea, married Martha Jane Rhea, the daughter of the twin, James Northcross McCollom.

It took several days to unravel the relationship between Martha Jane Rhea and John Carter Rhea. They were second cousins. Now it gets even more sticky if indeed the brother disposed of Martha Priscilla Rhea's husband and not Indians as the other note suggests. However, the Indian story also holds some merit because Martha and John Elijah's mother was Indian.