52 Ancestors #14 Hays Rodgers

Posted on April 6, 2015 by Lori Crane

This challenge is set forth by No Story Too Small,

and this week’s theme is “Favorite Photo.”

No, doubt about it, this is the one.

Hays Rodgers Sr was my 4th great grandfather. He was born in Greene Co, Tennessee in February of 1793 to James Rodgers and Elizabeth “Elly” Hays. He was the eldest son and had at least ten siblings. Just before the War of 1812 began, his family moved from Tennessee to the Mississippi Territory, today known as Clarke Co, Alabama. Alabama didn’t become as state until 1819.

1814 – When Hays was 19, he and his brother, Absolom, signed up for the Mississippi Militia and were assigned to Captain Evan Austill’s company of volunteers in Major Sam Dale’s Battalion to fight against the hostile Creek Indians. Hays remained in the Militia until October 1818, but was only called out once for a two-month tour. Today, I am a member of the United States Daughters of 1812 under his patriotism.

On December 11, 1816, he married Marey Ann Scott, who was from Georgia.

In 1818, following the end of his military service, Hays, Marey, and first-born Lewis, moved to Copiah Co, MS (what later became Simpson, MS). He started buying land and farming. Over the next two decades, the couple had a total of 14 children.

In 1834, the US Government began selling off land it had obtained from the Choctaw Indians in the 1830 signing of Dancing Rabbit Creek. Hays went to Pine Springs in Lauderdale County before the land was surveyed and built a small cabin overlooking Rogers Creek bottom so he could claim the land the moment it went up for sale. He was a squatter for all purposes.

September 26, 1836 – A deed was recorded for 80 acres in Pine Springs which he bought from government.

October 1836 – He bought 160 acres next to his 80 acres from John Calhoun. Mr. Calhoun moved to the Martin Community to open a leather tannery.

1839 – He bought 80 acres from Alex McMullen and 80 acres from Jeremiah Howell. He also began buying slaves and producing cotton.

1856 – He was granted public land adjoining his plantation from the US Gov’t in payment for his military service.

1857 – He built the “Ole Stennis House” (photo) 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. A person’s total worth did not include the price of the slaves they owned, and most of his wealth was tied up in slaves that were worth more than $1000 each – that’s probably a million bucks in today’s money.

1862 – When the Civil War began, Hays sent four of his sons to fight. Three never returned. Also, during the winter of that year, a typhoid epidemic hit his family, killing the only son who didn’t go to war. Fortunately, Hays was not around to witness the deaths of his sons as he was the first in the family to died of typhoid that winter in December of 1862. He was 66 years old. His wife died shortly after him in March of 1863, also of typhoid.

Upon his death in December 1862, he owned 690 acres of land and stock in the Mobile and Ohio Railroad, which sat unattended until the end of the war, and then for more time as they awaited the boys return at the close of the war in 1865. The boys didn’t return. Finally, the property went to probate in 1869 and was sold at public auction on the steps of the Meridian Courthouse to Major Adam T Stennis, hence the name “Ole Stennis House.” The home remained in the Stennis family for 100 years until 1970 when it was bought by the Hover family.

Interesting note: The only son to return from the war was Hays Jr, albeit with an injured, useless arm and a wilted spirit. Since he no longer had family in Mississippi, Hays Jr. sold his farm and moved to Alabama to be near his wife’s family. He sold his farm to a man named Tom Stennis. Tom Stennis was a former slave to Major Adam T Stennis.

Ursula Woodcock Culpepper – Culpepper Saga

Posted on March 14, 2015 by Lori Crane

This post is in place of my usual “Saturday Snippets,” and is the second installment of the background of the people and places in my coming series, The Culpepper Saga. You can read the first installment here.

Ursula Woodcock Culpepper is one of the more sentimental characters in my coming series. She was our hero’s mother, and sadly, is only in the first book, “I, John Culpepper.” She was my 11th great grandmother.

Ursula was born to Ralph Woodcock, the Alderman of London, and his wife Good Bower in 1566. She was baptized at St. Lawrence Jewry in London on January 27, 1566. Her father’s will describes her as “my daughter Ursula, wife of Solomon Pordage.” Ursula and Solomon married in 1581, when Ursula was a child of fifteen. Solomon Pordage died September 12, 1599 and his will commended his wife to his kinsman, William Stede of Harrietsham. Solomon’s sister, Joan Pordage, was married to a Culpepper and Ursula probably met her second husband, John Culpepper of Feckenham, at family gatherings long before she was widowed. Note: This is John Sr., not our hero John, and in the book I refer to him as Johannes, as that is what is written on his tombstone.

Ursula and Johannes had four children: Thomas, Cicely, John (our hero), and Frances. When the children were small, between the ages of four and ten, the family left their home in Kent and moved to Astwood Court in Feckenham (photo) so Johannes could retire and become a “country gentleman,” but they lived there for less than a year when Ursula took ill and died. She was buried at St. John the Baptist Church in Feckenham on June 2, 1612 as “Ursula, the wife of John Culpepper, Esquire.” She was forty-six years old.

In the first book in the Culpepper Saga, “I, John Culpepper,” the following is what Johannes thought of his lovely wife. The book will be released April 10, 2015.

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He pushed open the heavy door a few inches and peeked through the crack. The room was dim with all the heavy curtains drawn. It was quite different up here than the sunshine-filled bustle of the rest of the house. The room was quiet and warm, with the soft flickering light of candles dancing on the tapestries that covered the walls. He called out, “Ursula?”

“Johannes? Is that you? Please, please, come in.”

Her golden voice was as sweet as an angel’s, and that made him smile. He’d married her because of her cheerful voice—well, that and her family’s money. The Woodcock family had more manors and land than the Culpeppers, and the time-honored tradition of marrying heiresses and widows was generally the way the Culpepper men gained their fortunes. But Ursula had something else about her that Johannes loved. She was warm-hearted, with a gentle smile and soft manner. He had initially been attracted to her by the way she said, “Good morning,” and “Good evening,” and particularly the way she said, “Johannes.” Words floated from her lips as if they were lyrics she was singing just for him. Her voice had a happy lilt that filled his heart the way nothing else did. Today, it made him happy to be home.

He swung the door wide, entered the lavishly appointed room, and found Ursula sitting up in the four-poster bed, wearing a soft white gown that floated over her petite frame. A stack of pillows rested behind her back and her legs were covered with a brightly colored velvet quilt. Her hair was plaited on either side of her face, and Johannes was momentarily awed by how peaceful she looked. Childbirth agreed with her.

Her expression was one of excitement and anticipation as she held their newborn in her arms, and her smile grew more radiant as he approached the bed. “It’s a son,” she said.

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Sir William Berkeley – Culpepper Saga

Posted on March 7, 2015 by Lori Crane

For the next few Saturdays, in place of my usual “Saturday Snippets,” I’m going to give you some background into some of the people and places in my new series, The Culpepper Saga. The series consists of four books which will be released between April and September.

One of the main characters is Sir William Berkeley. I write stories of my ancestors, but Berkeley is not one of my ancestors. He was, however, a life-long friend of our hero and my 10th great grandpa John Culpepper.

In the 1st book, Berkeley and John are young law students in England. In the 2nd and 3rd books, Berkeley plays a daily role in John’s life and is the Governor of Virginia. In the final book, Berkeley is married to John’s niece and is at the center of a deadly rebellion.

William Berkeley, referred to as “Will” by his family and friends, was born in England in 1605. He was the colonial governor of Virginia from 1642 until his death in 1677. Upon his arrival in Virginia, he built a plantation called Green Spring House and planted corn, wheat, barley, rye, and tobacco, though he despised tobacco. In 1670, he wed thirty-six-year-old Frances Culpepper, the niece of our hero John. Historical records show him fleeing Jamestown during Bacon’s Rebellion in 1676 and taking refuge in Accomac, Virginia. Most people leave it at that, but in my writing world, I happen to know that John had a house in Accomac, so it is obvious he went to John’s. After all, they had been friends for many years, and they were family through marriage. I’ll let you read the rest of his story in the Culpepper Saga, but I’ll leave you with a tidbit from the day he and John met as young boys at law school–a place called Middle Temple.

Note: Wikipedia does not confirm that Berkeley attended Middle Temple, but in “The History of Middle Temple” by Hart Publishing, records of Middle Temple show Berkeley as a student. He also wrote and published a few plays in the 1630s, which was a large part of the curriculum at the school.

The following is an excerpt from “I, John Culpepper.”

**************************************

John clapped along with the other boys as the headmaster strolled toward the center of the room. The man looked as stern as JC had warned. A pair of spectacles rested on the tip of his pointed nose, and his rather large ears stuck out from under his cap. He began stroking his goatee as if caressing the family pet. For a moment, John couldn’t put his finger on what was so amusing about the man’s appearance, then it struck him—the man looked like a goat. John tried unsuccessfully to stifle a giggle.

Barnaby’s brow wrinkled and the corners of this mouth turned down like a fish as he scanned the group of boys. He looked at each one as if viewing a repulsive heap of trash. He cleared his throat and his Adam’s apple bobbed up and down. Just as he opened his mouth to speak, a frizzy-headed boy ran into the room, allowing the door to slam behind him. The sound echoed loudly within the stone walls and the tardy boy’s face turned red with embarrassment. Barnaby followed the boy’s movement with his narrowed eyes as the boy took the only empty seat in the room—right next to John. John felt a trickle of sweat drip down his back as the headmaster slowly walked toward them.

“You’re tardy for my class,” the man scoffed, his eyes filled with hostility. When he said the word class, he drew out the a for an inappropriate amount of time, and John was again reminded of a goat, but with the man standing directly in front of him, he didn’t dare giggle.

“My apologies. I just arrived, sir.”

“What is your name, boy?” Barnaby growled.

“William Berkeley, sir.”

“William Berkeley.” He stared at Berkeley for a long time, as if attempting to memorize every feature of the boy’s face. He then repeated the name. After what seemed like an hour of uncomfortable silence, with the tension in the room growing by the second, Barnaby said, “William Berkeley, I will speak with you in private following this evening’s supper.”

“Yes, sir.” William lowered his eyes to the floor.

As Barnaby turned his back on Berkeley and returned to the center of the room, Berkeley glanced around the room at the other boys. John wondered if Berkeley’s humility was in respect for the headmaster or due to his embarrassment for being late, or both.

Berkeley leaned over to John and whispered, “Who’s that old goat?”

John almost laughed out loud and his hands flew up to his mouth.

Berkeley winked at him and grinned.

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The first book in the Culpepper Saga, “I, John Culpepper,” will be released April 10, 2015.

52 Ancestors #10 Thomas Culpepper

Posted on March 4, 2015 by Lori Crane

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

No one weathered storms like my 10th great uncle Thomas Culpepper, and he was literally caught in “Stormy Weather” during one of his greatest moment.

Thomas was the eldest son of John Culpepper of Feckenham and his wife Ursula Woodcock. He was followed by two sisters, Cicely and Frances, and a brother, John, whom we refer to as John Culpepper the Merchant.

Thomas was born into a life of privilege as his family held vast estates and had worked in the king’s service for generations. When Thomas was born in 1602 in Kent, England, the Culpepper family boasted sixteen living barons and earls.

At the age of nineteen, Thomas entered Middle Temple which was a law school. He was soon called to the bar and became a successful lawyer. He married Katherine St. Leger, moved into the family home of Greenway Court (photo) in Kent, and they started their family.

After King James I died in 1625, King Charles took over, and Thomas was promoted to a colonel in the king’s army. This was one hundred years after the Tudor reign where people had been beheaded for their religious beliefs, but King Charles was making everyone nervous with his religious antics. He married a Catholic princess, appointed a Catholic supporter to the office of archbishop of Canterbury, and demanded the Scots begin using the Catholic Book of Prayer. The people of Scotland, Ireland, and England refused to go back to the age of being charged with heresy. They began meeting behind closed doors and discussing what to do about this tyrannical king.

Parliament rallied an army against the king and in 1642 the English Civil War began. As with the Culpeppers before him, Thomas was a royalist and took the side of the king. Thomas and his friend George Goring, the earl of Norwich, fought bravely against Parliament’s army.

In May 1648, Thomas and George raised 10,000 men around Kent to fight against Parliament. This was a significant number considering by this time Parliament’s army had split into two factions. The larger was holding down an uprising in South Wales, leaving the smaller group of 6,000 men to defend all of London and its surrounding towns. The royalists were holding the town of Maidstone (Thomas’s hometown located south of London) with a force of 2,000 men. Under the leadership of General Thomas Fairfax (photo), 4,000 parliamentarians marched south to Maidstone to recapture it.

On June 1, 1648, in the midst of a terrible storm, Fairfax attacked Maidstone. Fairfax’s men took over a bridge and crossed the Medway River and effectively divided Thomas’s men into two groups. Thomas’s diminished army fought in the heavy rains throughout the night and were backed up by Fairfax’s men, street by street, inch by inch. They moved up Weeks Street and finally retreated into St. Faith’s Churchyard where they fought until well after midnight through the raging thunderstorm. At the first light of dawn, out of ammunition and having nowhere else to go, 1,000 royalists emerged from the church and surrendered to Fairfax’s army.

In return for promising to lay down their arms, the soldiers were released and allowed to return to their homes, but in typical Thomas/George fashion, they didn’t. They regrouped and headed north to seize London, but they found the city’s gates closed, so they moved further north to George’s hometown of Colchester. Fairfax’s men pursued them and another battle ensued. Colchester held its ground for eleven weeks, but in August 1648, they were forced to surrender.

Throughout these battles, the king was being held prisoner by Parliament, and for the last two years, the royalists suffered defeat after defeat trying to save him and turn the tide of the war. They began realizing their cause was lost, and across the country, the royalists began surrendering left and right.

In January of 1649, King Charles was charged with treason, found guilty, and was beheaded. Following the king’s execution, all of the royalists, including Thomas Culpepper and George Goring, had their property seized by Parliament and many were beheaded or hung.

In March 1649, George Goring, being held prisoner since his loss at Colchester, was charged with treason and found guilty. Facing beheading, his family petitioned for leniency and the deciding vote, cast by the speaker of the house, granted George his freedom. He joined the exiled court of the prince in the Netherlands and became the captain of the king’s guard. When the prince reclaimed the English throne in May 1660 as King Charles II, George was by his side. George Goring died in 1663 in Brentford, just west of London.

Fortunately for Thomas, his brother John was a merchant who owned a ship. John smuggled Thomas, his wife Katherine, and their four children out of England in 1650 and took them to Virginia. Thomas escaped probable beheading in England, but sadly, he died in Virginia in 1652 at the age of fifty.

His son-in-law, Sir William Berkeley the governor of Virginia, wrote about him, “He lost all his estate, life, and liberty in the king’s service.”

*This story is told in detail in my coming book, “John Culpepper the Merchant,” which is the second book in the Culpepper Saga and will be released May 2015.

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.

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 #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.

Sailing to Jamestown

Posted on January 27, 2015 by Lori Crane

I was doing research for a new book and found three ships sailed from England in 1606 and founded Jamestown, Virginia. Their names were Susan Constant, Discovery, and Godspeed. On a side note, there is some evidence the the first ship was actually named the Sarah Constant, but that’s neither here nor there. The ships carried 105 passengers and 39 crew, and it took them four months to cross the Atlantic. I added the ships to my story and didn’t think much else about them, until I saw the following picture…

These are the replicas of the original ships. They were used in 2007 to celebrate the 400th birthday of Jamestown and remain docked on the James River. Well, if you know me, you know I love tall ships, so now you have my interest. The more I researched the ships, the more exciting tidbits I found.

Many American’s know the name John Smith (of John Smith and Pocahontas fame) as being one of the original settlers of Jamestown, but few know that he sailed to American on the Susan Constant, and less know that he was almost hung for having a disagreement with one of the ship’s officers. Instead of killing him, they imprisoned him on board the ship for the remainder of the journey. Four months is a long time to be confined to the hole.

The captain of the Godspeed was Bartholomew Gosnold. He had made voyages to the colonies before. In 1602, he discovered and named Cape Cod and Martha’s Vineyards, but the settlements he tried to place there didn’t take hold. After securing funding and ships, he sailed again in 1606. This time confident that a settlement could be formed. The thirty-something husband and father never saw his family again, as he died of scurvy and dysentery only four months after landing in Jamestown. Don’t drink the water!

The Jamestown colony was settled in 1607 by adventurers bent on making a profit. The Plymouth colony was not settled until 1621. Plymouth settlers fled to the new world for religious freedom. Why is it that Plymouth is so much more popular in the American history books than Jamestown? Is it because of Thanksgiving and those silly hats the Puritans wore?

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.

Lori Crane

award-winning author. musician. cute shoes.

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