52 Ancestors #9 Howell Joel “Hobby” Wedgeworth

Posted on February 28, 2015 by Lori Crane

This challenge is set forth by No Story Too Small, and this week’s theme is “Close to home.”

You can’t get more close to home than this story. I live just south of Franklin, TN and my great aunt’s father was captured in Franklin during the Civil War, nearly in my backyard.

Howell Joel “Hobby” Wedgeworth was born Nov. 26, 1837 in Greene County, Alabama to Rev. Joel Walker Wedgeworth and Margaret Jane Smith. In 1852, he married Elvira Hughens and had one daughter Margaret Jane in 1858. Sadly, his wife died in 1860. I don’t know the fate of his little girl, as he went off to fight in the Civil War as a bachelor.

During the war, Hobby served with 5th Mississippi Regiment Co K as a musician. He was wounded in December of 1862, but kept serving. On November 30, 1864, he was captured at the Battle of Franklin, TN and sent to Louisville, KY to military prison, then to Camp Douglas in Chicago. After the war ended, he was released on June 18, 1865. You can read more about the Franklin battle HERE.

It was told by his granddaughter that Rev. Joel Wedgeworth went to a designated meeting place to pick up his son after the war and didn’t even recognize him because he was so thin and worn.

When Hobby returned from the war, he immediately married Martha Morrow (pictured with Hobby) in 1865 and had eight children, the youngest being Ora Wedgeworth who married my great grandpa’s brother, Floyd Culpepper.

Hobby died Jan. 5, 1907 in Neshoba County, Mississippi at the age of 69. He is buried with his wife at Hester Cemetery in Neshoba.

I attended the 150th anniversary muster of the Battle of Franklin November 2014 and witnessed the re-enactment as well as a memorial salute performed in the Confederate cemetery located at the site.

Saturday Snippet – I, John Culpepper

Posted on February 21, 2015 by Lori Crane

Here’s a bit of my work-in-progress, “I, John Culpepper.” For you ancestry/genealogy readers, John Culpepper is my 10th great grandpa. Release date will be April 10, 2015.

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Fall 1626, England

“No! For the hundredth time, no!”

John looked down at the intricate grain of the walnut desk beneath his fingertips and shifted his weight to his other foot. He sighed, feeling his dreams disintegrate before his very eyes. The snap of the white sails, the taste of the salty spray on his lips, the smell of the tar that sealed the decks—the visions were quickly vanishing behind the thick fog of his father’s adamant disapproval. He pictured his mighty ship sinking into the black waters of condemnation, bubbling like a cauldron as it disappeared from sight. There was nothing he could do to change his father’s mind, and he wondered whatever possessed him to come to this man for assistance. He should have known better.

His father glared at John from behind the desk. He propped his elbow on the scrolled arm of the chair as his large hand methodically stroked his pointed beard. “Is there anything else?” he snapped.

John didn’t look up. He shook his head and mumbled, “No.” He turned and padded across the thick rug toward the door, listening to the man’s heavy breathing behind him. He reached for the brass doorknob, paused, and turned back. “You know I’ve always done everything you’ve asked of me. I went to school. I studied to be a lawyer. I did it all for you. I never wanted to practice law. I’d never be happy on the bench.”

“Happy? What makes you think life has anything to do with being happy? You are a Culpepper, and as such, you have an obligation to serve your family and your king in a manner befitting your station. This childish notion of owning a ship is nothing but rubbish.”

John released the doorknob and walked back toward his father’s desk. The intimidating man dwarfed the desk, his size exaggerated by the broad shoulders of his leather jerkin, yet he sat up taller in his chair in preparation for the quarrel to continue. It was a wasted gesture, as his opponent already knew the battle was lost.

John made sure he didn’t raise his voice. “Father, you have financed merchant ships for as long as I can remember. What difference does it make if I’m the one who owns the ship?”

“Culpeppers don’t own ships. I funded those expeditions as an investment—a losing investment, I might add.” He rose from his chair and his voice grew louder, echoing off the oak panels that lined the walls. “There has never been a Culpepper placed in a position to experience hunger and savages and shipwrecks, and there won’t be one now, not with my blood written on the purchase. I will not fund a ship for you, John, not now, not ever.” He pointed his finger in John’s face. “And if you somehow find a way to procure a ship, mark my words—I will disinherit and disown you. No son of mine will become a common sailor. I am finished with this conversation once and for all. Have I made myself clear?”

John exhaled, beaten. His shoulders slumped as he broke his father’s glare and dropped his eyes to the floor.

“John? Have I made myself clear?”

“Completely.”

52 Ancestors #8 James Rodgers

Posted on February 19, 2015 by Lori Crane

This challenge is set forth by No Story Too Small, and this week’s theme is “Good Deeds.”

I don’t have any “deeds” for my ancestors, but I do have some “land grants.”

The following is a land grant for my 6th great grandfather, James Rodgers Sr, who was born to James Rodgers and Mary McPherson in 1732 in Massachusetts. He married Margaret Woods in 1766 in Augusta County, Virginia, and they must have immediately moved to Tennessee, as my 5th great grandfather was born in Greene County, Tennessee in 1767. (For family members who follow this blog, this James Rodgers is the grandfather of Hays Rodgers, the father-in-law of Elly Hays.)

James was forty-four years old at the beginning of the Revolution and did not fight, but he served by housing soldiers. In return for his patriotism, he was granted 200 acres of land in Greene County, Tennessee in 1792. He did not enjoy it long, as he died on the land in 1794.

The thing that strikes me is the property lines were set by trees. No wonder people ended up having feuds over whose hog was on whose property.

North Carolina Revolutionary War Land Grants

Roll 12: Book 1: Page 284 (Greene County, Tennessee)

The State of North Carolina, to all whom these Presents shall come. Greeting:

Know ye, that we, for and in consideration of the sum of Fifty Shillings for every hundred acres hereby granted, paid into our Treasury by James Rodgers

Have given and granted and by these presents do give and grant unto the said James Rodgers a tract of land containing two hundred acres lying and being in our county of Greene on the north side of Nolachucky on Deals Branch of Lick Creek.

Beginning at a Spanish oak, white oak and dogwood and yew. Thence south two hundred and forty poles to a white oak and black oak. Thence with said Rodgers line one hundred and thirty six poles to a stake. Thence to the beginning. As by the plat here unto annexed doth appear together with all woods, waters, mines, minerals, here did with and appurtenances to the said land belonging or appertaining to hold to the said James Rodgers his heirs and assigns forever yielding and paying to us such sums of money yearly or otherwise as our General Assembly from time to time may direct provided always that the said James Rodgers shall cause this grant to be Registered in the Registers office of our said county of Greene within twelve months from the date hereof other sum the same shall be void and of none effect.

In Testimony Whereof, we have caused these, our letters to be made patent and our great Seal to be hereunto affixed.

Witness Alexander Martin

Esquire, our Governor, Captain General and Commander-in-Chief at Danbury this 11th day of May, in the 16th year of our Independence and in the year of our lord 1792.

Alexander Martin (signed)

52 Ancestors #7 Catherine Howard

Posted on February 12, 2015 by Lori Crane

This challenge is set forth by No Story Too Small, and this week’s theme is “Love.”

One of the most interesting stories of “Love” in my ancestry comes from the journals of Tudor history.

Catherine Howard was the fifth wife of King Henry VIII. She was also my cousin. Her father was Edmund Howard and her mother was Joyce Culpepper. Joyce’s father was Sir Richard Culpepper.

In the 1200s, the Culpepper’s were split into two definitive lines by brothers Walter and Thomas into the Preston Hall Culpeppers and Bayhall Culpeppers, respectively. In the 1400s, the Bayhall line split into two lines with brothers again, so instead of Preston Hall and Bayhall, we now have Preston Hall, Wigsell, and Bedgebury. Catherine’s maternal grandfather, Sir Richard Culpepper, was of the Preston Hall line. Catherine had many Culpepper cousins, one being my 12th great grandfather William Culpepper of the Wigsell line, and another being Thomas Culpepper of the Bedgebury line. Though distant, Catherine Howard and Thomas Culpepper were cousins.

Just to make history even more confusing…Catherine’s paternal grandfather was Thomas Howard Duke of Norfolk. This man was Anne Boleyn’s grandfather too. Catherine and Anne (Henry VIII’s second wife) were first cousins.

On 28 July 1540, sixteen-year-old Catherine married King Henry after he ended his politically motivated marriage to (fourth wife) Anne of Cleaves. Henry was nearly fifty years old. For fourteen months, the newlyweds were happy, but then the rumors began. Henry became convinced his young bride was having relations with a few men, the most painful being his trusted servant, Catherine’s cousin, Thomas Culpepper.

In my opinion, one can imagine Catherine at sixteen-years old being quite overwhelmed by all the attention she was receiving along with her new-found feelings of superiority and immortality simply because she was Henry’s wife. And it is possible that Thomas in his mid-twenties, was merely playing a game with a teenage girl. The excitement of this game would be hard to top, especially with a prize as valuable as the wife of the King. Then again, they may have actually loved each other.

Catherine and Thomas were charged with treason, tried, and convicted. Thomas was beheaded 10 Dec 1541. Catherine was stripped of her title of Queen, locked in her chambers, and her future remained in limbo until Parliament decided what to do with her. On 10 February 1542, she was taken to be executed. She traveled by boat to the Tower and undoubtedly passed under the bridge where Thomas’s head was impaled. I wonder if she looked up. Her execution was held Monday, 13 February 1542.

According to popular folklore, her final words were, “I die a Queen, but I would rather have died the wife of Culpepper”. Did she really die for love, or was she simply a young girl who didn’t realize the place next to the King was a fragile one?

The above portrait, which has always been reported to be that of Catherine Howard, is now in dispute by the National Portrait Gallery in London. Apparently the poor girl lost her head…and now her face. Below is a letter she sent to her cousin/lover Thomas Culpepper.

Master Culpeper,

I heartily recommend me unto you, praying you to send me word how that you do. It was showed me that you was sick, the which thing troubled me very much till such time that I hear from you praying you to send me word how that you do, for I never longed so much for a thing as I do to see you and to speak with you, the which I trust shall be shortly now. That which doth comfortly me very much when I think of it, and when I think again that you shall depart from me again it makes my heart die to think what fortune I have that I cannot be always in your company. It my trust is always in you that you will be as you have promised me, and in that hope I trust upon still, praying you that you will come when my Lady Rochford is here for then I shall be best at leisure to be at your commandment, thanking you for that you have promised me to be so good unto that poor fellow my man which is one of the griefs that I do feel to depart from him for then I do know no one that I dare trust to send to you, and therefore I pray you take him to be with you that I may sometime hear from you one thing. I pray you to give me a horse for my man for I had much ado to get one and therefore I pray send me one by him and in so doing I am as I said afor, and thus I take my leave of you, trusting to see you shortly again and I would you was with me now that you might see what pain I take in writing to you.

Yours as long as life endures,
Katheryn.

One thing I had forgotten and that is to instruct my man to tarry here with me still for he says whatsomever you bid him he will do it.

It’s Monday! What are you reading?

Posted on February 9, 2015 by Lori Crane

It’s Monday! What are you reading?

I just finished “Letters to Kezia” by Peni Jo Renner.

This is one of those rare books you cannot put down until you’ve finished it, and I read it in one sitting. The characters are based upon known facts of the author’s ancestors, and she has transformed them into a ripping tale of trust, lies, and deceit. Mary Case was a colonial woman of Connecticut, seduced into trusting a man who almost became the death of her, literally. Her daughter, Kezia, was the product of that tangled web, and Mary ultimately faced the task of telling Kezia the truth about her life and her father. The characters are rich and compelling. Their adventure is fascinating.

Author’s blurb:

It is 1693 in Hereford, Connecticut, when Mary Case, the spinster daughter of a Puritan minister, finds herself hopelessly smitten by the roguish thief, Daniel Eames. Betrothed to a man she does not like or love, she is soon compelled to help Daniel escape from jail. Suddenly, she finds herself on the run, not only accused of being Daniel’s accomplice, but also of murder.

The fugitive pair soon finds solace-and a mutual attraction-among the escapee’s Algonquin friends until two men from Daniel’s dark past hunt them down. After Mary is captured and returned home to await trial, a tragedy takes the life of her younger sister, revealing a dark secret Mary’s father has kept for months. But just as Mary learns she is pregnant, she makes a horrifying discovery about Daniel that changes everything and prompts her to develop an unlikely bond with his mother, Rebecca, who soon saves Mary from a shocking fate. It is not until years later that her daughter, Kezia, finally learns the truth about her biological father and family.

Letters to Kezia shares a courageous woman’s journey through a Puritan life and beyond as she struggles with adversity and betrayal, and discovers that loyalty can sometimes mean the difference between life and death.

Letters to Kezia on Amazon

Author’s Twitter page

Author’s Facebook page

52 Ancestors #6 Chlodio 395-448 A.D. No, Really.

Posted on February 5, 2015 by Lori Crane

This challenge is set forth by No Story Too Small, and this week’s theme is “So Far Away.”

So, So, So, Very, Very, Far Away!

My Culpepper line is very well traced by many people, including having its own website – Culpepper Connections. My 13th great grandfather William Culpepper married Cicely Barrett. The Barrett line intersects with the Bellhouse line and the Poyntz line and can be traced all the way back to King Charlemagne, King of the Franks 748-814 A.D.

If you Google King Charlemagne’s paternal line, you can go back to his 10th great grandfather. Charlemagne is my 39th, making Chlodio my 51st.

Pepin the Short 714-768 King of the Franks

Charles Martel 688-741 Duke of the Franks, a statesman and military leader

Pepin of Herstal 635-714 Duke of the Franks

Ansegisel 610-670ish Served King Sigbert III as a Duke. Murdered.

Arnulf of Metz 582-640 Frankish bishop of Metz and advisor to the Merovingian Court.

Bodegisel ?-585 Frankish Duke. Served Kings Chilperic I and Chilperic II.

Mummolin ? Mayor of the Palace of Neustria. Married Chilperic II’s daughter.

Munderic ?-532 Merovingian with a claim to the Frankish throne. Married a Roman senator’s daughter.

Cloderic the Parricide ?-509 Murdered his own father in order to take the kingdom, then was murdered himself.

Sigobert the Lame 445-509 King of the Franks, murdered by his son Chloderic the Parricide.

Chlodebaud 430-450 King of the Franks

Chlodio Long-Hair 395-448 A.D. King of the Franks

52 Ancestors #5 Mary Elizabeth Howington

Posted on January 29, 2015 by Lori Crane

This challenge is set forth by No Story Too Small, and this week’s theme is “Plowing through.”

There are a few ways to interpret this week’s theme, Plowing Through, and the first thing that comes to mind is a farmer, but I’ve decided to take a different perspective. Here is an ancestor that was so hard to trace, I had to Plow Through for a long time to find answers.

My great grandmother, Mary Elizabeth Howington Burke.

Granny Burke was a million years old when I was a child, so I never paid her much mind. But as I grew older and began researching my ancestors, I thought back on those days and wished I would have sat down and talked to her about her family.

She came from poor roots, born in 1893 to John Thomas Howington and Florence Smith. She was followed by seven siblings, including a brother named Milton Howington whom we called “Uncle Sug”(as in sugar) while I was growing up. In 1914, she married John Patrick “Pat” Burke and had seven children, including my grandmother Ina Burke. Pat died in 1958 and Mary died in 1977. They are buried at Liberty Baptist Church Cemetery in Duffee, Mississippi. That’s all the information I had for years. She lived a quiet life in the country and did not leave a paper trail.

One day, I read an obituary for my other great grandmother, Annie Culpepper, one that I had read many, many times before, but something stuck out this time. It said Annie was survived by her children, including my grandfather, Earl Culpepper, and a daughter named Mae Howington. First of all, I was sure “Mae” was referring my grandfather’s little sister Zeffie Mae. Second of all, who was this Howington my great aunt Zeffie was married to? Could this Howington be related to Mary Howington? (Note: my grandfather Earl Culpepper was married to Mary Howington’s daughter, Ina Burke.)

As I plowed through documents, made phone calls to elderly family members, and lived inside the time-sucking monster we call Ancestry.com for a whole week, I found the answers about Mary Howington’s ancestry.

Zeffie Mae Culpepper Howington was married to Milton “Uncle Sug” Howington. My grandpa’s little sister was married to grandma’s uncle. By tracing Milton Howington, who left tons of records, I uncovered the whole Howington clan.

The hardest part was explaining to my aunt that her “Uncle Sug” was also her mother’s “Uncle Sug.”

Welcome to the South.

52 Ancestors #4 Bettie Brown

Posted on January 22, 2015 by Lori Crane

This challenge is set forth by No Story Too Small, and this week’s theme is “Closest to your birthday.”

This week’s theme is a piece of cake for me – birthday cake! My birthday is November 19, 1962. The ancestor closest to my birthday is my great great grandmother who was born November 19, 1862.

Sarah Elizabeth “Bettie” Brown Keene

Sarah Elizabeth “Bettie” Brown was born to William Lafayette Brown Jr and Sarah Ann Elvira Dollar Brown in Lauderdale County, Mississippi. (photo: transcribed family Bible) There were ten children in her family, seven boys and three girls, one of whom died at birth. Five of the children were born just before the Civil War began, and her father was a sharp shooter guarding the railroad bridges at Chunky, Mississippi, so her mother was home with a handful of children under the age of eight at the start of the war. When her father returned from the war, the next child was born in 1865. They wasted no time!

At the age of 18, Bettie married John Thompson 16 Nov 1881 and had one daughter, Fleta. I don’t know what happened to Mr. Thompson, but in 1890 Bettie married Thomas Gilbert Lafayette Keene who served as Lauderdale County’s treasure 1904-1907. They had seven children: Eunice Tabitha, Isaac, Essie Mae, Ernest Grady, Benjamin Blaine, Eula Ouida (my great grandmother), and Earl Vandorn. Bettie outlived her husband by five years and died on 18 Jul 1926 at the age of 63.

52 Ancestors #3 Mary Ann Rodgers

Posted on January 21, 2015 by Lori Crane

This challenge is set forth by No Story Too Small, and this week’s theme is “Tough Woman.”

This week’s theme was an easy one for me. I’ve written about her before, as a matter of fact, I’ve written a whole book about her, but the theme dictates that I must do so again.

My #3 ancestor is my third great grandmother, Mary Ann Rodgers.

She was just a name in my family tree. Mary Ann Rodgers Carpenter Jolly. My third great grandmother. 1828-1898. I visited her grave at Bethel Cemetery in Mississippi in 2012, and my husband asked, “Now, who is this again?” I sat with him at the foot of her grave and told him her story.

I first discovered she lost her husband, Rice Carpenter, in the Civil War in 1862. How sad to lose the one you love, but hey, it’s war, people die. After he died, she remarried in 1864.

I looked at the 1870 census and found she married William Jolly and was living with his children, her children, and three children they had together. It was a house-full! But at least their three children were proof they must have liked each other, right? That’s good. I was interested in where William came from, so I traced him back and looked at his 1860 census. In 1860, he was living with his wife Harriet, their four children, and a woman named Nancy Carpenter who was 69 years of age.

Nancy Carpenter? The only Nancy Carpenter I know is Rice’s mother. Why was Mary Ann’s mother-in-law living with her future husband in 1860?? Were they neighbors? Was Nancy the cleaning lady? I clicked on Nancy Carpenter and saw her relationship to the “head of house” was listed as “mother-in-law.” She was William’s mother-in-law? What?? She was Harriet’s mother?

So, I went back and looked at Rice’s family, and sure enough, his sister Harriet was married to William. Rice died 31 Dec 1862 and Harriet died a month later of typhoid on 30 Jan 1863. Their spouses, Mary Ann and William, brother-in-law/sister-in-law, married in 1864. Well of course they did. They had known each other for many years, hadn’t they?

The more I looked at the Rodgers and Carpenter families, the more I was amazed by the sheer number of family members they lost to war and typhoid. At the time of my research, I remember counting SEVENTEEN, but I’m sure there were many more I missed. I couldn’t wrap my head around that kind of heartache and quickly became impressed with Mary Ann’s strength. How would you react if you lost two or three family members this year? You would probably need Prozac. How would you respond if you lost a dozen? I wouldn’t even be able to get out of bed. Seventeen in one year? I can’t even fathom that.

We all come from these strong women. We are the living proof of their strength. If the boat sank, the story would be over. But it didn’t, and we know that because we are here. We are the survivors. I dug deep down in my heart and soul and decided to tell her story, a story she would be proud of. I wanted her to know that she didn’t endure all of that heartache in vain. I am here. I am her legacy. Her story has been told to make us see the strength in our own hearts. We are the products of strength, fortitude, and integrity, as well as tears, heartache, and pain. We are the children our grandmothers fought so hard for, and I want Mary Ann to be as proud of me as I am of her.

Lori Crane Books at Amazon You may also want to pick up a box of Kleenex.

52 Ancestors #2 Lord John Culpepper 1st Baron of Thoresway

Posted on January 20, 2015 by Lori Crane

This challenge is set forth by No Story Too Small, and this week’s theme is “King.”

Women of my Culpepper line are traced back to King Charlemagne, so I could have taken the easy way and simply wrote about him, but let’s take a road less traveled, shall we?

My 12th great grandfather was John Culpepper of Wigsell. He had four sons: Thomas, William, John (my 11th great), and Alexander. The eldest son, Thomas, had a couple sons, but none with greater ties to THREE Kings than:

Lord John Culpepper, First Baron of Thoresway

Lord Culpepper was born in 7 Aug 1599 in Wigsell Manor (photo), Sussex, England. His mother died in February of the following year and his father died in 1613 when he was a young lad of 14. He attended Oxford University and graduated in 1616, and then attended Middle Temple law school. In 1621, he was knighted by King James. He sold his inherited Wigsell Manor to an uncle to finance his jaunts around the country. After King James died in 1625 and King Charles I took over, Lord Culpepper finally settled down a bit and married Philipa Snelling in 1628, but the young lady died two years later. He remarried in 1631. This young lady was his distant cousin Judith Culpepper (granddaughter of the uncle who bought Wigsell). They had nine children, many of whom died in infancy.

On January 2, 1642, he was sworn in by the Privy Council and appointed Chancellor of the Exchequer. The following year, he became Master of the Rolls. In 1644, at the onset of the English civil war, King Charles made him a baron.

When the war began, Lord Culpepper was the one who protected the king’s heir (Prince Charles) and took him from England for his own safekeeping. The war ended badly for the monarchy as King Charles was charged with treason and beheaded in 1649. Parliament, under the leadership of Oliver Cromwell, governed the country as the “English Commonwealth” for the next decade.

When Cromwell died, Parliament signed a proclamation that Prince Charles was the rightful king and had been so since his father’s death. They postdated all documents and acted as if the last ten years had never happened. Lord Culpepper had been guarding the prince in France and Denmark all this time and escorted him into London in May of 1660 as King Charles II. For his service, Lord Culpepper received all the prestige and glory he was due, including getting all the Culpepper property back that Parliament had seized at the end of the war and being given a large portion of Virginia in the new world.

Shortly after putting the king on his rightful throne, Lord John Culpepper died on 11 July 1660. The inscription placed by his children on his tomb in All Saints Church in Hollingbourne reads:

“To the lasting memory of John, Lord Culpeper, Baron of Thoresway, Master of the Rolles and Privy Counsellor to two Kings, Charles the First and Charles the Second. For equal fidelity to the King and Kingdome he was most exemplary. And in an exile of above ten years was a constant attendant and upright Minister to the Prince last mentioned. With him he returned tryumphant into England on the 29th of May 1660; but died the 11th of July next following in the 61st year of his age to the irreparable loss of his family. He commended his soul to God his faithful Creator, and ordered his body here to expect a blessed Resurrection. His Patent of Honour from King Charles the First dated the 21st of October 1644 may serve for his immortal Epitaph.”

Lori Crane

award-winning author. musician. cute shoes.

Tag Archives: ancestry and genealogy

52 Ancestors #9 Howell Joel “Hobby” Wedgeworth

Saturday Snippet – I, John Culpepper

52 Ancestors #8 James Rodgers

52 Ancestors #7 Catherine Howard

It’s Monday! What are you reading?

52 Ancestors #6 Chlodio 395-448 A.D. No, Really.

52 Ancestors #5 Mary Elizabeth Howington

52 Ancestors #4 Bettie Brown

52 Ancestors #3 Mary Ann Rodgers

52 Ancestors #2 Lord John Culpepper 1st Baron of Thoresway