Category Archives: Alabama

Tracing Your Roots: Using the Back Door

Posted on by Lori Crane

Sometimes you search for information about an ancestor and find oodles of information; sometimes you search for information and find…NOTHING?

How is that possible? Was she in the Witness Protection Program? If the person didn’t die young, there has to be SOMETHING. Census, will, land record, cemetery record, obituary, marriage record, ship log, family bible, something, anything.

I got stuck a while back researching my maternal great grandmother. I knew her name was Mary Howington. I knew she married John Patrick Burke. I knew she had 3 girls (one being my grandmother Ina Inez Burke), and 3 boys, and when I traveled to the cemetery, I found the headstone of a fourth boy who died as an infant.

I knew her in-laws, her children, when she was born, where she lived, when she married, when she died and where she is buried.  Why could I not find her parents? Her siblings? Her past? Her entire past could not simply vanish into thin air.

Her daughter (my grandmother), Ina Inez Burke, married Earl Culpepper. I was working on the Culpepper line when I read Earl’s mother’s obituary for the hundredth time (my other maternal great grandmother).

culpepper annie blanks culpepper obit

“November 16, 1961

Mrs. Annie Culpepper

Funeral arrangements were being completed today for Mrs. Annie Blanks Culpepper, 84 of Mobile, a former resident of the Martin community who died yesterday at Mobile.

Mrs. Culpepper was a member of the Duffee Baptist church and had been active in its various organizations until she suffered a broken hip three years ago.

Her two daughters are Mrs. Mae Howington of Meridian and Mrs. Aaron Spears of Enterprise. She is also survived by five sons…”

WOAH! Wait! Did that say Mae Howington? The only Mae I know is my grandpa’s little sister Zeffie Mae. Was Aunt Zeffie married into the same Howington family? How many Howington lines could there possibly be in the same town?

When I researched Aunt Zeffie, I found she was married to Milton Howington, who I remember as “Uncle Sug.” And when I researched Milton, I found his parents and siblings. His eldest sister was named Mary Howington and had the same birth and death date as MY Mary Howington. And then I found most of the siblings are buried in the same cemetery. I have photos of all of those headstone, but I didn’t know who they were. And then I found when Mary married John Patrick Burke, her sister married David Edmund Burke. Two Howington sisters married two Burke brothers.

After a year of searching, the mystery blew up full-force in less than five minutes. My “Uncle Sug” was my great grandma’s little brother. I didn’t know that. Now I have the male Howingtons traced back to 1750 in North Carolina, and the female line of the Howingtons traced back to 1550 in Wales. BAM!

I knew in the back of my mind that you can find leads if you trace siblings, but it was never cemented until that moment.  Since then, I have used that technique many times, and it ALWAYS works. If you get stuck, look at the siblings. It may take you back farther than you can imagine.

Tracing Your Roots: Courtesy 101

Posted on by Lori Crane

I’ve traced my family for over 30 years. I currently have 8548 people in my family tree, including 16 great great grandparents, 26 third greats, 36 fourth greats, 49 fifth greats and 61 sixth greats – there’s more, but I won’t bore you any further. At one point, part of my tree opens up and the male side dates back to 1190 England, and the female side dates back to 70 B.C. I have family from England, Ireland, France, Scotland, and places so far back, they aren’t even on the map anymore. I am passionate about my records and my new discoveries.

Do you want to know what my BIGGEST pet peeve in the whole world is??

My biggest pet peeve is getting messages and/or emails that say things like: “Please respond and let me know who you are and why you are tracing my family” or “Please transfer my uncles memorial page to me because he is my family” or “Thank you for posting headstone photos of my family.”

Yeah. My My My My. Let’s make it clear. If you have ancestors, you are probably not the only one in your family tree. The above comments need responses from me including, “I am tracing my husband’s family, not yours”, “The man is also MY uncle”, and “I drove 14 hours one-way to visit that cemetery and posted headstone photos of MY family, not yours, but you are welcome, I guess.”

One of my biggest pleasures is finding distant cousins all over the world, but not when those cousins send rude emails.

I’m currently working on a book about a cousin who was an orphan. My third great grandmother raised her deceased brother’s five orphans for a while. One of the orphans has a great story, so I’m writing a book about her. She lost her parents at the age of nine in 1862 in Mississippi. She is found in the 1870 census living with her other aunt in Alabama, and found in the 1880 census living back in Mississippi. She is then found in 1890 in Texas, married with an infant daughter, and died that very same year at the age of 36. My questions were, “Why did she go back to MS? and “How did she end up in TX?”  I did find the answers to my questions, but still wanted more information. Through some family searching (emails to a cousin of a cousin of a cousin), I ended up on the phone with the infant daughter’s GRANDDAUGHTER, who is 73 years old and living in Abilene, TX. She told me all about her family and her grandmother, but she did not know anything about her orphaned great grandmother or the family line before that, so we filled in a lot of family history for each other. She emailed me a photo of the orphan and a four-page hand-written letter from the orphan to her brother, dated July 1890, a month before she died. And I emailed her stories of the family along with a photo of the orphans grandfather, her THIRD great grandfather whom she never knew existed.  It was amazing. We are cousins connected 150 years ago. Wow!

So, lesson to be learned:

If you contact someone about their family research, do not say “MY family,” because if they are researching and have records, it is more than likely their family also, and you never want to be rude to your cousins.

Class dismissed.

Ancestry – or Why I’m So Jacked Up – The 3rd Great Grandparents 3&4

Posted on by Lori Crane

The great great great grandparents…continued. (This would be #3 and #4 of 32 great great greats. This may take a while.)

The last Ancestry post was about mom’s side, so in fairness, here’s one about dad’s side.

My paternal great grandparents, whom I knew and loved dearly, were Ben and Eula Pickett. This entry is about Ben’s grandparents.

Robert Theodore Pickett and Lucy Ann Rackley

Robert Theodore (3rd great grandfather) 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 in 1836 or 1837. At that time in history, I would suspect she died shortly after 2 Feb 1836 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. (My aunt also married a Linton, and if I did the research, I am positive I would find that her Linton was a descendant of Miles, making them not-so-distant cousins. Lauderdale is not a very big county. 🙂 )

Robert Theodore married Lucy Ann Rackley in Choctaw, Alabama in 1860 and shows up in the census there through 1880. All of their 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.

I have photos of all of their headstones and most of their death certificates, but I won’t bore you with them.

Only Robert and Lucy’s…

The only photographs I have of any of the children are the youngest son, Rev. Robert Tilden Pickett 1876-1947 and his wife Lilian Price 1877-1962. They married in June of 1904, three months before his mother’s death.

Aren’t they gorgeous?? (photos from the library of my cousin, Fran Pickett)

The other children were:

Sarah Elizabeth “Sally” 1859-1930

Margaret Madelene “Maggie” 1860-1924

Amelia Elizabeth “Betty” 1863-1924

Annie Mariah 1864-1912

Joseph Lawson 1866-1910 (my 2nd great grandfather)

Lloyd Daniel 1866-1936

Joshua H 1870-1933

Nathan Brightling 1872-1954

Two things strike me about the above dates: 1. Joseph and Lloyd couldn’t possible be born in the same year. One was born in Jan and one in Feb, so someone put the wrong birth year on the headstone. I have neither of their death certificates. 2. Maggie and Betty both died in 1924. According to their death certificates, which I have, Maggie died on June 26th of cancer and Betty died on August 28th. That must have been a difficult year for the siblings.

Also, only one of the four girls married – Annie Mariah. She married James Henry Fisher Sr. James’s sister, Caledonia D Fisher, married Joseph Lawson Pickett – the above mentioned 2nd great grandpa. “Callie” and “Joe” were the parents of my great grandfather, Ben Pickett, mentioned at the beginning. So, a Fisher brother and sister married a Pickett brother and sister. I know who my 2nd great and 3rd greats are, but I still have to stop and think about that for a minute. Annie Pickett Fisher and Callie Fisher Pickett make me stop and scratch my head every time.

Lucy Ann Rackley (3rd great grandmother) was born in Alabama on 6 Aug 1834 and died in MS on 8 Oct 1904.  Her father was Anthony Rackley and her mother was Julia A Johnson, and she was the youngest of their 6 children. Her parents were born in North Carolina and Virginia respectively, and both died in Alabama, though I am not sure when or why they moved there. Her mother died in 1860 and her father died just after 1880. Perhaps that is when the family decided to move to Mississippi. Fortunately for her, none of her children died before her, and her husband outlived her by 10 months.

Rest in Peace great great great grandma and grandpa…

Hays Rodgers Sr

Posted on by Lori Crane

Hays Rodgers Sr was my 4th great grandfather. He was married to Marey Ann Scott and had 14 children: Lewis, James, Allen, Jackson, Susannah, Stephen, William, Mary Ann (my 3rd great grandmother), Timothy, Hays Jr, Wilson, John W, Elizabeth and Martha Jane. His sons, Stephen and William, died in 1834 at the ages of 8 and 10. His son, James, died of typhoid in Nov of 1862. Between 1863 and 1864, his sons, Timothy, Wilson and John W,  all  died during the Civil War. Timothy and Wilson died of illness. John died of a gunshot wound to the stomach in Jonesboro, GA. Fortunately, Hays Sr was not alive to witness the soldier’s deaths as he died of typhoid in Dec of 1862.

Hays Rodgers Sr was born 1 Feb 1783 in Greene, TN to James Rodgers and Elizabeth “Elly” Hays. He was one of 12 children. At the age of 18, he moved with his parents to Clarke Co, AL to raise hogs. Clarke Co was part of the Mississippi Territory at that time. He and his brother, Absolom, signed up for the Mississippi Militia in 1814, and were assigned to Capt Evan Austill’s company of volunteers in Maj Sam Dale’s Battalion to fight against the hostile Creek Indians. Hays remained in the Militia until Oct 1818, but was only called out once for a two-month tour.

On 11 Dec 1816, he married Marey Ann Scott, who was from Georgia. In 1818, following the end of his military service, he, Marey, and 1st born Lewis, moved to Copiah Co, MS (what later became Simpson, MS). He started buying land and farming. He built the “Ole Stennis House” (see photo) in 1857 at the age of 61. In 1860, the U.S. Census states Hays owned 13 slaves, a 640 acre (square mile) plantation, 2 horses, 3 mules, 10 cows, 4 oxen, 16 sheep, 60 swine, and $600 in farming instruments, for a total worth of $8400.

Upon his death in Dec 1862 in Lauderdale Co, MS, he owned 690 acres of land and stock in the Mobile and Ohio Railroad, which was sold and divided between his heirs. His wife died shortly after him in March of 1863, also of typhoid.

Their property was sold in 1869 at public auction on the steps of the Meridian Courthouse to Major Adam T Stennis, hence the name “Ole Stennis House.” It remained in the Stennis family for 100 years until 1970. A while before the property was sold, Hays Jr, who was the only son to returned home from the war albeit with a useless arm and a wilted spirit, sold his farm and moved to Alabama to be near his wife’s family. He sold his farm to a Tom Stennis. Tom Stennis was a former slave to Major Adam T Stennis.

If you are a descendant of Hays Rodgers Sr or would like more information about the family, please join us at our Facebook page – http://www.facebook.com/DescendantsOfHaysGRodgersSr   All descendants and history buffs are welcome.

Hays Rodgers Sr.

The Ole Stennis House taken April 2012

Hays Rodgers Sr War of 1812 Military Record

1869 Probate Record Transcribed

(witnessed by Mary Ann Rodgers 2nd husband, William Eades Jolly)

Probate court of Lauderdale County, MS Oct term 26th day 1863

In the matter of the petition of J.D. Tolson and D. Maggard for letters of Administration on the Estate of Hays Rodgers, deceased.

In reading and filing the petition of J.D. Tolson and David Maggard for letters of Administration on the Estate of Hays Rodgers, deceased, it is ordered that letters of Administration be granted to the said J.D. Tolson & David Maggard upon their taking of the oath prescribed by law and entering into bond in the form of the statue in the sum of twenty thousand dollars with G.N. Chandler and N.R. Batt as their securities and the said J.D. Tolson and David Maggard appearing in open court and taking oath and together with their said securities signed, sealed and delivered said letters are now granted and ordered to be filed and recorded according to law and that T.H. Warren, Alsa Pace and A.W. Gillespie be appointed appraisers for which ? and that the action be recorded.

Probate court of Lauderdale County, MS March term 1869

To the Honorable E.S. Bramlette, Judge of the Probate Court of Lauderdale County. The petition of the undersigned Hays Rogers, and Mary A. Jolly, two of the heirs at law of Hays Rogers, Sr. late of said county deceased, respectfully represents unto your Honor that the said Hays Rogers, Sr. died intestate seized and possessed of a large personal estate which has heretofore been administered and distributed under the order and direction of your Honorable Court by J.D. Tolson and David Maggard the former administrators thereof as will fully appear by reference to the records of your honorable court. Further, your petitions show that the said Hays Rogers, Sr. also died intestate as aforesaid seized fee of the following lands lying and being in the County of Lauderdale and known and described as follows, to wit: W 1/2 of Sec 2; NE 1/4, E 1/2 of SE 1/4 & NW 1/4 of SE 1/4 of Sec 3; E 1/2 of NE 1/4 Sec 10; all of Township 7 R15 east containing in all 680 acres more or less. Also the said H Rogers owned five shares Mobile and Ohio Railroad stock ($500) No. 3215. Your petitioners show that together with your petitioners are the following heirs at law of the said Hays Rogers, Sr., to wit: Lewis Rogers of the State of Texas, Allen Rogers, Mary A. Jolly (one of the petitioners), Martha Meeks and Hays Rogers (another of petitioners), and Sarah A. Rogers guardian of Cornelia A. Rogers of Lauderdale County, Susan Chatham of Louisiana, Elizabeth Graham of Pickens County, Alabama and the following named minor heirs of Hays Rogers, Allen Rogers, Mary E. Rogers (who is the wife of D. Morrow and dau. of James, Hays Sr.’s son), Martha E. Rogers, Wm H. Rogers (Son of James, Hays Sr.’s son), Pernecia Ann Rogers of whom your petitioner is the guardian and Cornelia A. Rogers the ward of Sarah J. Rogers (wife of Wilson, Hays Sr.’s son) of Lauderdale County.

Your petitioners further show unto your honor that the said lands are not susceptible of division in kind amongst the several heirs named nor can the said M&O RR certificate be disposed of and divided without Administration de bonis non on said estate. Your petitioners therefore pray your Honor to grant letters of Administration on said estate to Warren H. Alford, Esq., he being the choice of our petitioners for that purpose, as well as the choice of several adult heirs of the said intestate. Upon his entering into bond in such sum as to your Honor may consider right and proper in the premises, and as in duty bound they will pray, tc.

Sworn to Subscribed before me by

Wm. E. Jolly May 24, 1869

Signed

Hays Rogers, Jr.      Mary A. Jolly

To the Hon. E.S. Bramlette, Judge of the Probate Court of said County. The undersigned Administrator de bonis non of the Estate of Hays Rogers, Sr., deceased, late of said county respectfully represents unto your Honor that his said intestate has no personal estate except a certificate of stock in the Mobile & Ohio RR No. 3215 for five hundred dollars being five shares in said road. Also the following lands lying and being in the County of Lauderdale and known and described as follows, to wit: W 1/2 of Sec 2; NE 1/4, E 1/2 of SE 1/4 & NW 1/4 of SE 1/4 of Sec 3; E 1/2 of NE 1/4 Sec 10; all of Township 7 R15 E. containing in all 620 acres more or less. Further the said Administrator shows that the said Hays Rogers, Sr. left and has now surviving him the following heirs at law, to wit: Lewis Rogers of the State of Texas, Allen Rogers, Mary A. Jolly, Martha Meeks, and Hays Rogers, guardian to Allen, Mary E., Martha E., William H., and Perneca Ann Rogers and Sarah J. Rodgers guardian of Cornelia Rogers and Susan Chatham of Louisiana and Elizabeth Graham of Pickens County, Alabama.

Your petitioners further shows that it is desirable and to the best interest of all the heirs and distributees of said estate that the said Railway stock and the said lands be divided amongst the several heirs aforesaid and that a division of said lands cannot be effected without a sale of the same. He therefore prays your honor to grant him an order of sale of said lands & RR Stock for cash upon such terms as to your Honor may seem lawful and expedient and he asks that citations issue to the heirs of said Hays Rogers, resident of this county, to appear at the next term of your court to be holded on the 4th Monday in July next and that public citation be made in some newspaper, notifying the nonresident heirs of said intestate to appear at the said July term to object to the prayer of your petitioner if they think proper. And as in duty bound he will ever pray, etc.

Sworn to Subscribed before me this

The 24th of May, 1869

Signed

W. R. Alford Adm.