Robert Theodore Pickett (my 3rd great) was born on this day in 1836. He was descended from John Pickett who arrive in Salem, Massachusetts from Kent, England in 1648 (source citation: FARMER, JOHN. A Genealogical Register of the First Settlers of New-England: Salem, Massachusetts; Year: 1648; Page number 227). Over the next few generations, they migrated southward from Massachusetts, through Virginia and North Carolina, eventually ending up in Alabama for this part of the story, then on to Mississippi.
Robert Theodore was born in Alabama on 2 Feb 1836 to Daniel L Pickett and Amelia Ferrill. He was the last of four children, because his mother died shortly after his birth. At that time in history, I would suspect she died due to complications of childbirth, but I have no proof. His father re-married in 1838 – a woman named Harriet Elizabeth Wilson. Daniel and Harriet had one child, and following Daniel’s death in 1851, Harriet married Miles Linton and had six more children. Robert Theodore was 15 at the time of his father’s death.
At age 24 Robert Theodore married Lucy Ann Rackley in Choctaw, Alabama, and the family remained there through the 1880 census. Lucy descended from David Edward Rackley who came to Virginia from Devon, England sometime between 1663 and 1679. Over the next few generations, they too migrated southward. (Source: Hargreaves-Mawdsley R Bristol and America; A Record of the First Settlers in the Colonies of North America; Place: Virginia; Year: 1663-1679; Page Number: 165).
All of Robert Theodore and Lucy Ann’s children were born in Alabama, but at some point, the entire family moved to Mississippi. If you don’t know, the 1890 census was burned up in a fire, so it is not available to us to research and hunt for clues. I know the family was in Mississippi by 1891, when the youngest daughter was married there. All except the youngest son are buried at Pleasant Hill Cemetery, Zero, Lauderdale County, MS. The youngest son died in Sicily Island, Louisiana and I do not know where he was buried, but he is not at Pleasant Hill with the rest of the family.
There’s some fun family name changing between local Lauderdale County families: the Picketts, the Fishers, the Colemans, and the Keenes. The Pickett children were: Sarah Elizabeth “Sally,” Margaret Madelene “Maggie,” Amelia Elizabeth “Betty,” Annie Mariah, Joseph Lawson (my 2nd great), Lloyd Daniel, Joshua H., Nathan Brightling, and Rev. Robert Tilden.
Pickett sister and brother married Fisher sister and brother: Annie Mariah married James Henry Fisher. Joseph Lawson (my 2nd great) married Caledonia “Callie” Fisher (my 2nd great), James’s sister.
Rest in peace Robert Theodore and Lucy Ann. You have not been forgotten.
My 2nd great grandpa, John Francis Burke, according to family history, was from Dublin. He stowed away on an America-bound ship at the age of 15 in 1861. He was found en route and told by the captain they could not take him back. He said, “If I wanted to go back, I wouldn’t have stowed away.” They dropped him off in Florida – right at the beginning of the Civil War.
John’s uncle owned a house called Hollingbourne Manor in Kent, England – about five miles outside the town of Maidstone – about two miles from another family home, Leeds Castle. The house, and I use that term loosely, was acquired in 1590 by Francis Culpepper of Greenway court. It was bequeathed to his son Thomas the Elder, and later to his son, Thomas Jr. who was a knight. The last owner was Thomas Jr.’s son William. It was in the family for about 125 years.
Thomas the Elder built a chapel in the local Hollingbourne church, All Saints Church, as a monument to his wife Elizabeth. In the marble effigy, Lady Elizabeth’s hands each wear a ring tied by a single cord that disappears up the sleeve of her dress. The epitaph written by her husband reads: Optima Faemina, Optima Coniux, Optima Mater, which means: The best of women, the best of wives, the best of mothers.
There are many lead coffins beneath the chapel containing the remains of various Culpeppers. The entrance has now been sealed. The window in the chapel at the foot of Lady Elizabeth’s coffin bears the Culpepper coat of arms. It is the white square in the upper left with the red diagonal line.
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In 1858, he married Nancy Virginia “Jenny” Holdcroft in Kemper, Mississippi, and the union produced 7 children, 5 girls and 2 boys. They made their home in Newton County, MS.
A to Z Blog Challenge
In 1846, WT was involved in a shoot out at the Brickyard, which was a mustering point for soldiers in the Mexican-American War. The owner of the Brickyard was a man named Shumate and his wife Muggie. There was a disagreement with WT’s dad, Southy, over the ownership of the Brickyard.
WT died at the age of 62 on 13 May 1882. He is buried in the family cemetery on Zero Rd.
In 1811, the family, yes, all thirteen of them (Lavenia wasn’t born yet), moved by wagon from Tennessee to Clarke County, Alabama. At the time, Alabama was part of the Mississippi Territory as Alabama did not become a state until 1819. The area was a wild frontier, filled with the Creek Indians who were causing all the mischief and death they could to keep the white man from encroaching on their land. This was also a few months before the War of 1812 began. In the south, the war was between the Americans and the Indians, who were armed by the British.
I wrote a book about her called “Elly Hays.”
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Birth 1709 Virginia
Charles’s Windham /Wymondham /Wyndham line is traced back to Sir John De Wymondham in 1320 Wymondham, Norfolk, England.
In 1919, the entire nation had gone dry when prohibition was passed, and the boys needed a way to make money. There was no better way in that south than by making moonshine.
During the trial, witnesses testified that Cleveland was heard to say he was going out to kill Picketts, and that he had no intention of going out to simply shut down stills. Ben also testified that Cleveland shot first. The State didn’t waiver. Both Ben and Clyde were sentenced to life in Parchman Penitentiary. Ebb and Joe were convicted of distilling and both received short sentences. They resumed moon-shining upon their release.
Lori Crane 