Passed and Presence

Researching institutional archives

2011-09-01T11:42:00.006-04:00

While completing my new book, Milligan College (part of Arcadia Publishing's Campus History series), I realized what a treasure trove that college archives might be for genealogists. For instance, the collection of Josephus Hopwood, former president and key figure in Milligan's history, includes student essays and class rosters dating back to the mid 1800s. How cool would it be to read something your ancestor wrote in college? The Hopwood collection consists of more than six forgotten boxes of materials that were discovered in a campus garage in the 1950s.

In addition to the Hopwood letters, flyers, catalog materials, etc., the archives have photos, memorabilia, matriculation and graduates lists, and campus publications like yearbooks, newspapers, event programs and more.

In the area of Overmountain Men known for their Revolutionary War contribution at King's Mountain, Milligan has had many descendants of significant historic figures grace its halls. It also helped train officers for World War I and was the only college in the nation entirely turned over to the Navy V-12 program during World War II.

Masons and the Eastern Star

2010-12-28T22:45:00.003-05:00

Among the many Rosenbalms buried at Zion United Methodist Church near Damascus, Virginia, are several markers with the Masonic emblem. I was immediately reminded of my grandmother Margaret Hopson Kitts' funeral, where two ladies from the Eastern Star recited some ritual and stuck carnations into the beautiful spray of roses on the casket, making the styrofoam floral base screech with each effort. At one point, a lady accidentally said something about "blessed immorality" instead of "blessed immortality," which turned my frustration into amusement. My grandmother would have found it funny!

I've often wondered how my Mamaw Kitts was tied to the Eastern Star, knowing that a woman can't join it without a male family member in the Masonic Lodge. Since she is a Rosenbalm descendant, it looks like it must have been in the family for a while. That would make another good research project!

Rosenbalms of Damascus

2010-12-28T22:24:00.006-05:00

A few months ago, I stopped at Zion United Methodist Church near Damascus, Virginia, to locate Rosenbalm graves there. To my delight, a couple of ladies were in the church parking lot, so I just had to introduce myself and ask a few questions about the Rosenbalms. Fortunately for me, one of the ladies began to tell me about the old homeplace, which just happened to be over the hill from the church. Away we went!

She actually showed me two old houses, one of which has been identified as the oldest in the county, and possibly the oldest in the state. A descendant is about to combine the two old homes into a new one.

I love it when I'm blessed with a special encounter like that!

Decoration Day

2010-05-28T13:10:00.005-04:00

Memorial Day makes me nostaligic for Decoration Day trips, when I visited various cemeteries as a child with my parents. Having allergies, I well remember riding in the car with jars and vases of wild rose cuttings, "pineys" (or peonies), mock orange, and baseball-sized snowball bush flower heads. But that was just the beginning.

Those days were times of reconnecting and reflecting as we walked among the headstones, careful not to step on graves. My aunts and uncles and cousins would be there, along with lots of folks I didn't know. However, we all shared ties to those buried beneath the dirt, those who had done the same thing in their lifetimes and had honored the memory of their loved ones.

The events I remember best are those at the Mize-Thomas Cemetery on Wilhite Creek, off Jones Cove Road in Sevier County, TN. I still thrill at the thought of all the mountain voices echoing off the surrounding hills, singing hymns of old. We'd have "dinner on the ground," and it was the equivalent of a family reunion, complete with stack cake. And always, ALWAYS, someone would eventually tell the story of the first burial in that graveyard.

In the above photo you can see just the edge of the stacked stones that still stand where a family traveling through by wagon left their little girl. The rocks were intended to not only mark the spot but to keep wild animals from digging it up as well. Nobody knows the name, but community members continue to leave flowers there each year.

I recently had the privilege of hearing the Jabbours share about their book detailing Decoration Day traditions, and I was fascinated by the many variations they discovered in their research. The days at each cemetery were special, and they were many, as we visited locations in Sevier, Knox, Union, and Grainger Counties.

Dalton and Dicie

2009-11-14T23:02:00.001-05:00

This photo shows two of my grandfather Jesse James Loveday's siblings, Dicie (right) and Dalton (seated). When I obtained this photo, I was told that the other woman (left) was one of Dalton's girlfriends, and another source told me that her name was Queenie Williams. I love the hats!

The full list of children born to Eli and Callie (Spurgeon) Loveday were: Dalton Doyle (married Hettie ??), Lloyd Lawton (married Deama Ball), Jesse James (married Josie Oakley), Ada (married Kurtis Hurst), Dicie (married Horace Kelly), Etter (married Pinkney Ball, Deama's brother), Savannah Georgia (Ruben Thomas, then Oiver Duffy), Winnie Pearl (married John Justus), and Sally (married Allen Kelly, cousin of Horace).

In-Laws and Outlaws

2009-11-13T22:16:00.006-05:00

Through this blog I recently connected with yet another distant cousin, whose grandfather Horace Kelly (right) is shown here with my own grandfather Jesse James Loveday (left). Horace married Jesse's sister Dicie (see Visit with Aunt Dicie), making them brothers-in-law.

I've always found it interesting that my grandfather was named for a Confederate outlaw. Even though Sevier County was a predominantly Unionist area, there IS a legend that the infamous Jesse James came through Sevier County and performed one of his acts of unorthodox generosity as a member of the Knights of the Golden Circle. But of course, tales like that exist in LOTS of places.

Greater Identification

2009-09-06T21:40:00.004-04:00

One of the reasons I enjoy genealogy so much is because of the joys shared with family in the process, and it's almost always an adventure! Even though the internet and resources like Ancestry.com can make research a little easier, they're no substitute for visiting places and people.

While spending time with Varnell and his wife Eileen, I not only had a meaningful visit but learned a lot as well. He, too, has been compiling family information, and there among his photos was one similar to another one of folks I've been trying to identify!

Although my version has more individuals in it, all of the ones in Varnell's have names. The two photos were obviously made on the same day in the same location, and they all evidently have connections to the Rucker family. Here is what I learned: (standing, left to right) young boy, Vada, man, Rosa, Landon, woman, man, Mossie, Barton, woman, Leonard, and Simeon; (seated, left to right) woman, little girl, older gentleman, little girl, Ada, Emeline Nicely, Aaron DeWitt Rucker, and Mary Jane Acuff Rucker. DeWitt and Mary are the parents of all the individuals with names listed here, except for Emeline Nicely, who is Mary's mother. Aaron DeWitt Rucker, was my great granmother Mary Isabell Rucker Hopson's brother.

As I've mentioned before, I enjoy the details of such photos. Click on the picture, zoom in, and see all the things hanging on the porch wall!

Windows on the Past

2009-09-06T00:14:00.012-04:00

Unbelievable!

As a result of recently reconnecting with my mother's first cousin Varnell, we traveled back into the country today. Way back. In fact, before lunch, we'd stepped back a couple hundred years into a house built in 1812.

Just driving toward Luttrell made me cry, because I was flooded with the emotion of missing my mother and grandmother. Stopping at the cemetery where I'd taken my grandmother many years before to visit the unmarked graves of her little baby boys made me sob. However, seeing Varnell and Eileen's old log cabin retreat brought smiles, and exchanging photos and family history information was a joy.

The greatest treat, though, began with showing them the photo (circa 1917) of my grandparents (George and Margaret Hopson Kitts), his mother (Eliza Hopson Wolfenbarger), and the sisters' parents (William and Mary Rucker Hopson) at Charlie Fraley's home where they once lived and ran a dairy farm (See "A Place to Live") and telling him that my grandmother had pointed the house out to me just down the road decades ago. Varnell then told me it was still standing, and before the morning was over, I knocked on a stranger's door and we were getting zenia seeds from the present resident! The homeowner was as thrilled to get the old photo of her house (I had an extra copy) as we were to tour her home! Oh, to put my hand on the same stair railing where my grandparents and great grandparents had touched it on a daily basis!! What a blessing!!

Hopson Sisters

2009-08-25T16:36:00.001-04:00

The passing of my mother's dear cousin Virginia seems like another one of the final links to my parents slipping away from me. She was a beautiful lady, and she and my mother talked almost daily, sometimes SEVERAL times a day, for most of their adult lives. At her funeral, I talked to many relatives I had not seen in years.

As sad as such times are, connecting with family is always good, and in these days of electronic communications, sometimes one may then re-connect in more lasting ways after years of absence. Afterward, a family member shared this photo.

Virginia's mother Eliza and my mother's mother Margaret were sisters. I had always heard about this sweet picture of the sisters as little girls, but I had never seen it. My grandmother, on the left, was born in 1900, several years after their only other sibling, Greenlee.

Kodak Underwoods

2009-08-24T18:00:00.001-04:00

In June of this year, I took two sisters in search of their Sevier County roots. It was a great day of memorable encounters and pleasant surprises, as I showed them the location of several cemeteries where their Trotter, Robertson, and Emmert ancestors were buried. We even found some of the old homeplaces, and to their delight, we were invited by their distant cousin to tour their great grandfather's Century Farm house that I learned bore the handiwork of 1800s famed wood master craftsman Louis Buckner. What incredible work! The stairs in that 100+ year old home didn't make a squeak!

At the end of an already perfect day, we decided on a whim to see whether we could find the graves of their Underwood ancestors, too. We had a map. We even had directions. We actually stopped and asked several folks along the way where it was. However, locating the John Thomas Underwood cemetery in Kodak took a while.
In the process, we met Alex Johnson who recently bought the Stella Underwood homeplace, which had served several generations of Underwoods. He pointed to the weedy top of a hill in a nearby cow pasture, so we climbed a fence and trudged to victory as the sun went down. Although the Underwoods are not in my personal direct line, I have a few cousins whose lineage traces back to those same graves.

You can read about Louise Buckner, the Underwoods, and other great stories of area history in the 1994 Sevier County, Tennessee, and Its Heritage. In fact, I encourage you to contribute your own Sevier County family stories to the NEW volume presently being compiled for publication. See: http://www.county-heritage.com/tn/sevier/overview.php or visit the Sevier County History Center for more information.

A Mystery Solved!

2009-07-07T20:15:00.006-04:00

Finally.

Sometimes I can answer my own questions!

While rummaging through a box of old high school stuff, I came across an envelope with a letter written in 1979 by my Great Aunt Eliza (Hopson) Wolfenbarger. Lo and behold, it contains the information related to the photo I've wondered about for so long. Evidently, at one time I knew the identities of all the people in the photo.

As stated in my earlier post, the standing couple is William Harrell Hopson and Mary Isabell (Rucker) Hopson, who married in 1883. The letter says that their first child was Preston Greenlee Hopson, born March 21, 1888. He is the baby in the 1888 tin type, which Aunt Eliza had tinted when she had the additional prints made. A second son, Samuel Hopson, was born and died in 1889 at nine months of age.

The seated couple is Thomas Dalton, stepfather of Mary R. Hopson, and his wife (Mary's mother) Minerva. Aunt Eliza says, "Minerva was a Jordan; her mother was a Harvey." This also means that the couple in the other tin type are not this same pair.

She also says, "Samuel Rucker never had his picture made; said it was a sin. He had a heart attack and passed away." See related post for the story of his death.

At the bottom of the note, Aunt Eliza admonishes me, "Put this in the frame behind the picture." I should have listened to her!

More Cherokee Adventures

2009-06-15T21:24:00.009-04:00

As I've continued to learn more about the Cherokee, I recently made another trip to the Qualla Boundary in North Carolina. I talked to some folks about the Huskey and Bradley families and spent time with the collections there.

We came back via the Blue Ridge Parkway, where I contemplated more of the sacred sites, like Judaculla Courthouse shown here. The Cherokee Heritage Trails Guidebook, by Barbara R. Duncan and Brett H. Riggs, is a helpful source of information. To see my photos and notes of related Cherokee sites, click here.

Loveday Grave Markers

2009-04-16T00:00:00.007-04:00

Last fall I took my cousin George Brooks and his wife Gail on a trip to visit Sevier County cemeteries where generations of Lovedays are buried. We spent the day taking photos of the markers, and with George and Gail's deeply appreciated contributions, I'm sharing them here. Perhaps someone who lives out of the area might like a look at some of them.

These grave stones are from the Fair Garden, Kear-Loveday, Stafford, and Walnut Grove cemeteries, and they include some of the oldest Loveday markers in the county. Click here to view the markers.

(When my father would drive us down Jones Cove Road, he would chuckle and ask whether we remembered the name of the hilltop shown in the background of this view of the Kear-Loveday Cemetery. It was known to him as "Granny's Butt.")

Collins: The Melungeon Connection

2009-01-20T18:13:00.000-05:00

Connecting with kin is just one of the blessings of exploring a family tree. In researching my mother's Kitts line, I was introduced to Norman and Sonja Collins (pictured right), who are my distant cousins and are serious genealogists.

My maternal grandfather George Washington Kitts' mother was Nellie Lucinda Collins, daughter of Aaron Collins. Norman's grandmother Clarissa was Aaron's niece, and she also married a Collins, her first cousin Tom Lee Collins. Tom Lee and Clarissa Collins are pictured left.

Judaculla Rock

2009-01-19T17:15:00.001-05:00

For many of us, our elusive Cherokee ties are intriguing, and I'm enjoying learning more about the history and ways. While searching for sacred Cherokee sites, I visited the mysterious Judaculla Rock, a large sandstone inscribed with various symbols and images.

According to Cherokee legend, Judaculla, the slant-eyed giant, leaped from his lofty mountain home on Tennessee Bald and scratched the rock as he landed. Rocks with similar carvings can be found in other Cherokee places, such as Georgia, and all of them are estimated to be hundreds and hundreds of years old.

Dow Oakley

2009-01-18T20:47:00.002-05:00

One of Henry Coleman Oakley's sons, Dow , left Gatlinburg, Tennessee, before 1900 and went to live near East Bernstadt and London, in Laurel County, Kentucky. Dow's uncle (Henry's brother) Leonard Henderson Oakley, Jr., lived there with his family.

Dow is shown here with his wife Bessie.

Cherokee research adventures

2009-01-18T16:04:00.000-05:00

Besides being busy with the holiday activities, I took some time to explore more about Cherokee heritage. I've been reading some really good books about the culture and history, such as G. Keith Parker's Seven Cherokee Myths, and James Mooney's History, Myths, and Sacred Formulas of the Cherokee. I've visited some of the sacred sites and took time to contemplate their significance.

Here, you see Kituhwa, one of the original mother town locations that was lost during the Removal in the late 1830s. The townhouse that held the sacred fire was built upon a 15-20 foot high mound that has been reduced to about six feet, as a result of the years of farming by others. What's left of the mound is the slight green rise visible in front of the wooded hill. This 300 acre river bottom land, which lies along the Tuckaseegee below the towering height of Clingman's Dome, was bought back by the Cherokee in 1996.

A name is in what?

2008-12-04T18:48:00.000-05:00

Most often we ask, "What's in a name?" However, while I'm busy trying to get more information together to post on family history, you might want to have some fun asking a different question with this site: http://www.publicprofiler.org/worldnames, where your may find where the greatest concentration of a particular name is located. After you see the international spread, you may click on a particular country or state or county to find the statistics. Pretty interesting! Be sure to try the various spellings of a name, such as "Rosenbalm" and "Rosenbaum."

For instance, the greatest number of Lovedays are located in Australia. In the U.S., Tennessee leads with the most Lovedays. What Tennessee county would you suppose has the most Lovedays?

The Loveday name is of Old English orgin, "Leofdaeg," and may be found as far back as the Domesday Book of 1086. It was originally a woman's name, given to those born on the Love Day holiday, when disputes and transgressions were to be forgiven and reconciled. The Love Day is mentioned in Chaucer's Canterbury Tales and Piers Plowman. Loveday is still a common name for women in England, where the surname also prevails.

Veterans

2008-11-12T21:10:00.001-05:00

As we honor our Veterans this week, I feel it's appropriate to post about an interesting find I had on a research trip. Daddy and I had driven in search of a cemetery off Wilhite, where he remembered attending a funeral as a little boy. I was looking for the graves of my great, great grandparents, but we stumbled across something else.

As we turned onto a small lane, we stopped to ask a man in his yard whether he could tell us about any cemeteries on that road. I explained that we were doing a little research on the family tree and mentioned some names. The man, whose last name was Branam, then said he had something I might want to see, and he brought out this flag. He explained that during World War II, Bethany Baptist Church had sewn the names of local soldiers onto the stars. There on the flag was my Uncle Doyle Loveday's name. To this day, I regret not offering to buy the flag, because I honestly think the man was almost suggesting that I might want to do that.

Other names include Hurst, Thomas, Webb, Rolen, Williams, Odom, Ball, Blalock, Elidge, and Branam. If you click on the photo, you can see some of the names a little better.

Speaking of Water Wheels

2008-11-08T23:19:00.000-05:00

My Uncle Doyle Loveday is shown here with his wonderful water wheel he built on his property off Kodak Road. (He is also shown below as a little boy.) His daughter Lois (Loveday) Chesney told me that her dad was a mechanical engineer, "partially educated in the military, and just a natural," who was very knowledgeable about mechanical things. Among other things throughout his life, he worked as an auto mechanic and driver with Lewis Bus Lines and with Knoxville Construction Company (now APAC) as supervisor for the heavy equipment that was used on building the local interstate highways.

Building the water wheel was a dream of his, so before he retired, he had a pond dug. He built the wheel all by himself during the summer of 1989 and designed it so that the overflow run off from the pond would allow water to drip onto the wheel to make it turn. He put a swing beside it, and the site became a special place for dreaming and reflection. The family cherishes this monument of his work, and his granddaughter Denise held her wedding at the site this past September.

Uncle Doyle went with me on several "hunting trips" for family information in Sevier County over the years, and I have a precious recording of him telling about family history. I visited his water wheel several days ago and couldn't help but touch it to make it turn. It is so perfectly balanced, that even today I believe you could just blow on it and make it spin!

Tuckahoe

2008-11-07T22:24:00.002-05:00

"Tuckahoe" is a Native American word for the large, truffle-like fungus that grew in the rich, moist soil along waterways, as well as for "tubers" like Indian Turnips. From those edible "bulbs," the Cherokees and others got starch to make their bread.

I am amazed that my Loveday ancestors from the 1700s lived along the Tuckahoe in Talbot County, Maryland, and then my Loveday grandparents coincidently lived along the Tuckahoe in Knox County, Tennessee!

Cousin Guy Merritt shares that all of our Tuckahoe and Thorn Grove area was once owned by the Derioux family. Peter Derioux was next in line to be the King of France, but when the French Revolution beheaded the king and his wife, Peter decided he should leave. He lived across the road from Thomas Jefferson, and Peter's grandson, also named Peter, came to East Tennessee, where he was a doctor in Dandridge. He owned many acres, and local families, including the Cokers, married into the Derioux holdings.

The Coker/Tuckahoe Mill stood just below the location of our grandparents' home place and was run by Guy's great grandfather William Lafayette Merritt. Mr. Merritt first ran a mill in Wear's Valley for Ahas Bryan and then moved to Newport to run the mill downtown there before eventually moving to Tuckahoe to run the one pictured here.

Family Trees: The Effects of Decades

2008-11-02T17:00:00.000-05:00

Lots of folks talk about their family tree, but our Lovedays have family TREES!

Throughout the years at my Loveday grandparents' home at Tuckahoe, many of us roamed the woods and left our marks on the trees there. (Thanks, Cousin Mike Loveday, for reminding me that they are BEECH trees!) Scattered along the hills and stream beds are names, initials, dates, and drawings from several generations, and they include my aunts, uncles, cousins, and their offspring, as well as some loves that have come and gone! The oldest ones I've seen are from the 1950s, when the land was bought. My particular line of carved initials I've found includes my dad's, brother's, nephew's, son's, and my own. Daddy carved mine when I was nine.

In the 1980s, I went back into the woods and took some black and white photos of the trees I could find.

After our recent reunion (11/1/08), a few of us went back to the woods again at the old home place, and I took more photos. (Thanks one more time, Cousin George Brooks, for being my hiking buddy AND for keeping me from sliding off the ridge into the creek!!)

While I was busy hunting old carvings, my husband Don secretly carved the initials (HB) of my new grandson. He didn't tell me what he had done until long after we had left the woods. What a special gift to me! Now I can take my grandson there some day and find it!! See here to possibly find your tree.

We Still Do

2008-11-02T15:58:00.000-05:00

What was I saying about family, food, and fellowship? A week ago my cousin Ginger (Farmer) Evans woke up with an intent to get us all together for a Loveday reunion. How many kin can you herd in a week? I was amazed yesterday that we managed to have about 60 in attendance. The food was excellent, and the fellowship was even better! So good to see aunts, uncles, and cousins to the first, second, and third degree!

Can anybody total how many family members come from the Jesse and Jocie (Oakley) Loveday family line? They would be so proud!

My Grandmother: Josie Oakley Loveday

2008-10-28T22:59:00.000-04:00

Josie (Oakley) Loveday always seemed to me to be a very quiet woman. When we would visit her home after my grandfather died, I would wait for as long as I felt was just long enough to be respectful, and then I would ask if we could go for a walk in the woods.

There my grandmother would show me the wildflowers, plants, and trees, and tell me their names and their uses. She would break the twigs, crush the leaves, pull up the roots and have me taste, feel or smell them accordingly. What wondrous things things she knew! I wish I could remember now all she said and showed me.

My cousin Guy Merritt talks about what a great dominoes player she was and the deep conversations he would have with her. I missed all that, but I have no doubt about her intelligence and wisdom. I believe it was those intimate woods experiences that partly helped shape my own love for nature.

Mamaw is shown here at about age 29 with her daughter Alma, Guy's mother.

A Place to Live

2008-10-27T23:29:00.000-04:00

Speaking of houses, here's a great photo of my grandparents, Margaret Jane (Hopson) and George Washington Kitts, with her sister Eliza Jane and her parents, William and Mary (Rucker) Hopson. Again, I love to see the details, like the mailbox and the front gate.

Reigning Rucker

2008-10-26T22:41:00.000-04:00

I love this photo. This is my mother's Aunt Mary Rucker, wife of Dewitt Rucker. I think she looks very regal, like a queen in her porch rocker. However, my favorite part of the picture is the fan, made of what appears to be turkey feathers. (Thanks, Cousin Tony White, for the clarification from the other side of the family!)

By the look of the rocker and the house details, Mary and Dewitt seem to have lived comfortably.

Loss

2008-10-25T22:20:00.000-04:00

Just like my mother's family, my father's family had two children who died in childhood. This beautiful little baby is Jesse and Josie Loveday's daughter Ewla. The other one's name was Edith. One died when the family lived at Wilton Springs (above Newport in Cocke County), and the other one is buried in Lockhart, SC, where my grandmother Josie worked for just a few days in a factory.

Sarah and Jim Whited

2008-10-24T22:01:00.001-04:00

My great grandmother Sarah (Webb) Oakley's second marriage was to Jim Whited. They are shown here with Sarah's daughter (my grandmother) Josie, who is on the far right, and Sarah's son Earnest, who stands at the back. The little ones are three of the children that Sarah and Jim had together: Oscar, Lu, and baby Verna. They later had Esta and Shirley Mae.

Jim and Sarah lived on Jones Cove Road, and she served as the postmaster for that area. Jim's parents were Ben and Mary Whited; Mary's parents were George W. and Catherine Hurst. The Whited name is also spelled Whitted and Whitehead.

Fond Memories

2008-10-23T20:53:00.000-04:00

Another strength we had as a family was for food and fellowship! This photo reminds me of so many wonderful times together, when we would gather for a holiday or just to hand crank a few freezers of ice cream (complete with fresh fruit toppings!) or cut several watermelons. Both my parents grew up among 9 siblings, which means I have dozens of cousins on both sides. At either gathering, we always had enough folks for at least two teams to play ball, as well as red rover, tag, hide and seek, etc. Once darkness fell, we played hide and seek by flashlight or we competed catching lightning bugs. If we were confined to the house, we played Rotten Egg and other quieter games for which I can't even remember names.

For Easter, Thanksgiving, and Christmas, my immediate family divided its time between my two sets of grandparents' homes (Kitts and Loveday). At each place, we would have tables and counter tops laden with food, fresh from the kitchens of wonderful cooks. After filling our plates, we would find or make seats throughout the house, spilling out onto the porches and into the yard if the weather was good. Even if the weather wasn't good, the food was! And the memories are precious!

Family Talent

2008-10-22T19:53:00.000-04:00

I suppose because I didn't inherit any of it, I am amazed by the abilities of family members who could play musical instruments with ease, even though they never had any lessons with their instruments of choice. My grandfather George Washington Kitts was like that, able to play a song on the piano after simply hearing it. At least two of his daughters were like that as well, and possibly even a son or two. They played the piano, the guitar, and the banjo and maybe even other instruments.

Searching for Edward Loveday

2008-10-19T22:25:00.000-04:00

Years ago when I first began my quest for family history, Jerry Loveday, now retired Gatlinburg postmaster, told me about a small, forgotten cemetery off Jones Cove Road where an Edward Loveday was buried. The place is called Mt. Pleasant, and the sunken graves there are overgrown with weeds and vines. I got permission from the landowner first, and it's a snaky place I wouldn't have gone without my father with me! At least a couple of the markers there are for Civil War veterans, and many graves are marked with simple field stones. This Edward might be the husband of the Minerva (Houk) Loveday, buried in the Fairgarden Cemetery.

Personally, I believe he is and that this Edward is one of the nine children of Jobe and Sarah "Sally" (Thomas) Loveday and the grandson of the Sevier County Loveday progenitor, Edward. My theory seems to be supported specifically by the 1850 census, though the general year of his birth seems to vary from census to census.

Crockettsville School

2008-10-18T21:54:00.000-04:00

Because my paternal lines lived for generations off of Jones Cove Road in Sevier County, TN, most of them attended Bethany Baptist Church and Crockettsville School. My grandparents, Jesse and Josie (Oakley) Loveday were sweethearts at Crockettsville, where they played on the playground together as children. My grandmother told of how she and Jesse shared a seat on the see-saw.

When my father attended there, he and his friends would ride home-made "bulger wagons" down the hill. He said they also had to cross the hill over to Wilhite Road to fetch water at the spring.

The school still stands but is now a private residence, as pictured here.

Having a Home: The G. W. Kitts Family

2008-10-15T20:52:00.000-04:00

My maternal grandfather, George Washington Kitts, worked in the quarries and held different jobs during the Great Depression, and he moved his family from Luttrell in Union County to Knox County, where he eventually worked at Lay Packing Company. They lived for a while in a little house off Roberts Road in Corryton, near the railroad tracks, and also at Marbledale, off Kennedy Road. (That's where my parents met as neighbors!) Mamaw and Papaw lived in a house in the field behind where would eventually become their home.

Among their many interests and activities, they owned a store at the corner of Wayland Road and Strawberry Plains Pike, and they eventually bought the Osborne Road house. At one time, Mamaw had shelves built into their dining room wall, so that the young people of the community would have a "library" where they could get books.

Beginning a Family: My Kitts Grandparents

2008-10-14T20:27:00.000-04:00

My maternal grandparents, George Washington and Margaret Jane (Hopson) Kitts first lived with Dr. Atkins, (Adkins?) and his wife for a few months, but Mamaw didn’t like that Mrs. Atkins wanted to tell her how to cook, so she told Papaw she wanted a place of their own! Eventually, Dr. Atkins provided a house for them. Their family began a year later, and a little one was born about every two years or so... until 11 children had been born! In the summertime, their children would cross Clinch Mountain (which has a peak called Kitts Point) to enjoy Lees Lake.

One son, Elmer, died at the age of one, “after eating too many cherries.” The next one, Willis, died the same day he was born, and both are buried in unmarked graves near one of the cedar trees in the Luttrell Cemetery shown here.

Callie's Bethany Baptist Church Obituary

2008-10-10T21:00:00.001-04:00

As was the custom of the time in that area, when Callie (Spurgeon) Loveday passed away, her fellow church members at Bethany Baptist wrote her obituary:

"On March 13, 1918, the death Angel, whispering in a calm voice to sister Callie, 'Thy work is done,' and she fell asleep in the arms of our Savior who doeth all things well. Sister Callie was 51 years, 3 months, 18 days old.

She professed faith in Christ at an early age, joined the baptist church and lived a faithful Christian until her death. Her maiden name was Miss Callie Spurgeon, and in early life was married to Brother Eli Loveday. To their union was born 9 children, all of whom are living.

When the Angel of death come for Mother alone, murmuring and said, 'home sweet home, farewell to all. I can see into the portals of heaven,' the children stood back and said 'Farewell to Mother; you are not yet gone but yet oh sleeping to live again in bliss for Ages.'

She leaves 9 children to mourn her loss. God through his mysterious wisdom, saw fit to call her from her earthly home to that Beautiful City of the redeemed. We mourn her loss when we see her vacant seat at church which can never be filled. That seat at home is still vacant. Oh Mother, love and tender care has left our home and heartaches here. God in his infinite wisdom, called from our midst Sister Callie; earth has been made poorer, heaven made richer; our loss is her gain.

Our dear father and mother have crossed over the tide and landed on heaven's bright shore to dwell with angels and Jesus our King, the one whom we love and adore; they are looking for us to come and meet them above the skies, there to dwell with them forevermore, where cometh no sad goodbyes.

Be it therefore resolved that we bow in humble submission to the will of him who doeth all things well, while our church has lost one of our most esteemed members, another jewel is added to that mighty host.

That we extend our heartfelt sympathy to the bereaved family.

That a place be set apart on our church book and these resolutions be spread thereon and that a copy of these resolutions be furnished to the family of the deceased, if called for."

Eli Loveday and his Bible

2008-10-09T21:00:00.000-04:00

Eli Loveday (born October 17, 1861; died August 1917) and his wife Callie (Spurgeon) farmed in what was known as Loveday Hollow (now called Hagg Hollow) off Jones Cove Road in Sevier County, TN. Both were very active in their church, Bethany Baptist, and when one young man felt called to preach, Eli taught him how to read. Eli had dark skin and a handlebar mustache. (Look at that pipe!)

In his later years Eli became blind in one eye from the cancer that eventually took his life. Callie "grieved herself to death" within the year. If our dates are correct, they had been married since they were 13 and 14 years old!

Shown here is Eli (back row, left) with his nephew Tally Breeden and "Sprig" Williams (who married Eli's niece), along with Eli's daughters Etter and Dicey and his Uncle David Loveday.

Eli's 1909 Bible records the family births and deaths, and I was able to have it photographed for the Daughters of the American Revolution Bible Project, as well as for the Sevier County Library.

Familiar faces: Callie (Spurgeon) Loveday

2008-10-08T22:31:00.001-04:00

My father's paternal grandmother, Teressa Caldonia (Spurgeon) Loveday, was born on November 25, 1861. Her father was John Spurgeon, and the family called her "Callie." She married Eli Loveday on June 30, 1878, and they had at least nine children. She died on March 13, 1918, and is buried in the Mize-Thomas Cemetery of Bethany Baptist Church, off of Wilhite Road in Sevier County, Tennessee.

She is shown seated here with several of her children (back row: Jesse, Etter, Dicey; front row: Sally, Winnie, Lloyd, and Georgia) and a couple of nephews (back row right: Luther & Britton). Also pictured here is my oldest cousin Lois (Loveday) Chesney, who I think bears a close resemblance to our pretty great-grandmother Callie. Lois has accompanied me on some interesting cemetery adventures!

Many years ago, I was told that I looked like Aunt Ada. I always thought they meant my father's sister Ada, but I didn't see the resemblance. Then one day I saw a photo of who I think is my grandfather's sister Ada (Loveday) Hurst as a child, and I realized she was the one everyone had meant all along. Here's who I believe is that Ada, along with a young me. What do you think?

The Collins line and the Melungeon connection

2008-10-05T20:39:00.000-04:00

My mother's paternal grandmother was Nellie Lucinda Collins. She was born February 2, 1872 to Aaron and Elizabeth (Vandergriff) Collins, who are pictured here. Aaron served the Union during the Civil War in Company B of the 2nd Tennessee cavalry.

Aaron Collins' parents were Freeling and Hannah (Stephens) Collins. Freeling was born on March 16, 1816, in Tennessee and died May 19, 1888. Oral family history tells that Hannah (born August 18, 1821; died August 19 1896) was tortured during the Civil War to learn where someone was hiding. Aaron and Hannah are buried in Clapps Cemetery, Cracker's Neck, Grainger County, TN.

Freeling's parents were Amos and Muriel (also spelled Meriel, Mariel, Marie, Mayvilla) Collins, who moved from Tennessee and lived in Kentucky near Big Creek in Clay County. Amos' children and their families were sometimes variously listed in the census records as Free Persons of Color or Mulatto, as so many of the Melungeons were often listed.

What's in a name? Joe Wheeler Kitts

2008-10-05T18:46:00.000-04:00

My mother's paternal grandfather was Joe Wheeler Kitts (lovingly called "Grandpa" in her story copied in my Melungeon Roots post). When I see a name that seems to reflect someone else's last name as well, I immediately wonder what the connection or affinity is. Surprisingly, this great-grandfather of mine, born in 1867 to Joseph and Elizabeth (Boles) Kitts, was named for Confederate General "Fighting Joe" Wheeler, although most other family lines seem to have held Union sympathies.

Wheeler commanded all of the Army of Tennessee's cavalry and was recognized for his fighting in the battles of Shiloh, Perryville, La Vergne, Chicamauga, Chattanooga, Knoxville, Bentonville, Ringold, and Atlanta, where he helped stand against Sherman. General Robert E. Lee considered him one of the two outstanding Confederate cavalry leaders.

Joseph Wheeler Kitts married Nellie Loucinda Collins, the daughter of Aaron and Elizabeth (Vandergriff) Collins. He is shown here with his son, George Washington Kitts, my grandfather. Joe had eight children and was widowed and married more than once.

Maryland Loveday Legacy

2008-10-04T23:36:00.000-04:00

Although the Loveday lines in Maryland have dwindled since the days of the Revolutionary War, their name is remembered in local landmarks.

Cecilius Calvert, the second Lord Baltimore, was the first Proprietary of the Province of Maryland. He named Talbot County, established in 1661 along the Eastern Shore, for his sister Grace Talbot, wife of Sir Robert Talbot. Initially, Talbot County stretched to include all territory between the head waters of the Choptank and Chester Rivers and eastward to the Delaware border. Later, portions of Talbot were divided among the counties of Queen Anne’s, Caroline, and Kent. In 1706, the boundaries of Talbot County were clearly defined to include Sharps Island, Choptank Island, Poplar Island, and Bruffs Island, as well as all the land north of the Great Choptank River up to the Tuckahoe Bridge and over to Sweatman’s Mill, then down the south side of the Wye River to the bay.

When colonists came to the Eastern Shore area of Maryland, they divided the settlement into “hundreds,” like those established by the Angles and Saxons a thousand years earlier when they first arrived in old England. The old English custom divided the lands among ten families, estimating that each family and its servants numbered ten people, totaling a hundred people in each area. Although the Maryland divisions of hundreds were originally just geographic divisions, they were later used as election districts. The Lovedays owned land in the Tuckahoe Hundred, as well as others.

Their original holdings dated back to the 1600s and over the years included several hundreds of acres and parcels named Friendship, Upper Range, Jordan's Hill, Middle Spring, Matthew's Chance, Francis Plains, Swine Yard, Parker's Farm, Dudley, Middle Neck, Hampton, Bloomsberry, Baildon, Bennetts Freshes, Crooked Lane, Frankford, St. Michaels, Hatton, Knave Stand Off, Holland's Spring, Loveday's Hope, Loveday's Purchase, and Loveday's Lot.

Revolutionary War Repercussions

2008-10-03T23:09:00.000-04:00

So what happened to those Maryland Lovedays and their wealth? After reading much about the history of Talbot County and looking at its records, I personally believe that the situation was similar to what happened in Sevier County during and after the Civil War. The people of Talbot County were divided in their loyalties, many of them being Quakers who were pacifists, while others were passionate colonists fighting for independence. Although the Loveday men fought in the Revolution, they were also closely associated with their Quaker neighbors, even attending many of their meetings. During the war itself, their area was ravaged by the burning and looting of plantations and the pirating of the waters, and the cost of the war itself took its toll.

Details may be found in Oswald Tilghman's book, History of Talbot County Maryland, 1661-1861, Vols. I & II, published in Baltimore by Williams & Wilkins Company in 1915.

Edward Loveday's Birth State: Maryland

2008-10-02T22:40:00.000-04:00

One of the most exciting adventures I've had in my genealogical research involved a trip to Maryland, Sevier County progenitor Edward Loveday's birth state. Although we've not been able to determine which of the Maryland Loveday sons was Edward's father, we do know a lot about them.

Prior to the Revolutionary War, they were great landholders, owning several tracts in Talbot County and even some in other counties as well. Imagine the thrill I had as my husband and I drove through the county and began to see roads that bore names similar to the lands those Lovedays once held. Amazingly, I discovered that the Loveday home established in the 1600s was still there! What an incredible experience to introduce myself to the owner and be given a tour of the house and grounds, seeing the cellar, the footprint (an impression in the back yard that reveals a brick floor) of what was probably an early detached kitchen, the household tools and implements found in the walls during remodeling, the shards of kitchenware found in the dirt, and a lonely grave, which is all that remains of a cemetery on the property (located at the tree on the right of the field in the photo). Our lovely host generously gave me one of the original bricks, and I in turn gave her a piece of pottery I created, which now sits in her window sill, holding some of those broken treasures from the past. It was a wonderful connection to the Lovedays of the past with a Loveday from the present.

Rosenbalm Origins & Resources

2008-09-29T20:30:00.000-04:00

David Rosenbalm and his wife Elizabeth were living near Tazwell, Tennessee in 1860, but by 1870, they had disappeared from the records and are presumed to have died by then.

*Much of the Rosenbalm history was shared with me in 1977 by Mildred Garvey (daughter of Mary Hopson Majars and granddaughter of Jesse Hamilton Hopson) of Redondo Beach, California, and can be found in Clifford R. Canfield's book, The Rosenbaum-Rosenbalm Family of Southwest Virginian, which is 726 pages long and about the size of a large Sears catalog!) The name Rosenbaum is of German origin and means "rose tree." The Rosenbaums were a German Lutheran family that arrived in America as early as 1710. In 1660, the Rosenbaum name was entered into the records of the Lutheran church in Westphalia, Germany. There are also many Rosenbaums of the Jewish faith from Central Europe living in the U. S., but that is a different line. Rosenbaums (of various spellings) settled in Pennsylvania, North Carolina, and Southwest Virginia, and have scattered across the nation, but our particular line can be directly traced to Anthony Rosenbaum, who lived in Pennsylvania in the early 1700s.

Rosenbalms at Damascus, VA

2008-09-28T20:00:00.000-04:00

Mamaw Kitts' father was William Harrell Hopson. William’s mother, Eliza Jane, was born on December 17, 1833, in Claiborne County, Tennessee, to Elizabeth (Harrell) and David Rosenbalm. Elizabeth Harrell was born March 10, 1811, in Tennessee, to Polly (Hopson) and Drewy Harrell.

Mamaw's great-grandfather David Rosenbalm was born in Washington County, Virginia, to Catherine (Stubblefield?) and George Rosenbalm (Rosenbaum). Elizabeth and David were married on February 2, 1832, in Claiborne County, where they lived and farmed. In February 1834, David returned to Washington County, Virginia, where he sold to his Uncle Valentine Rosenbalm his interest in his father George Rosenbalm’s part of his grandfather John Rosenbalm’s estate near Damascus, Virginia.

Since I now live nearer to Damascus, I think more about that particular family line on a regular basis. If you haven't ridden the Virginia Creeper bike trail there, I encourage you to do so and enjoy the glorious beauty of the area. It's a 17 mile coast DOWNHILL from White Top Mountain on what was once a railroad route. I promise! It really doesn't require much pedaling, and it crosses lots of wonderful trestles and bridges zig-zagging the creek (pictured). I can't help but wonder whether the Rosenbalms were in the vicinity when men from the surrounding area were called to arms for the Battle of King's Mountain.

John Rosenbalm had died on June 18, 1821, but because he had not left a will, his estate was not finally settled until about 1826. Catherine and two of John, Sr.’s other sons, Jacob and John, were the administrators. I have a copy of the estate inventory, which is three pages long and lists every tool, basket, utensil, head of livestock, piece of furniture, etc. and its individual worth! David’s father George apparently died young in about 1815 or 1816, and David’s mother Catherine remarried to a James Mountain. David and his brother John shared in their father George’s portion of their grandfather John Rosenbalm’s 1826 estate, along with George’s five other brothers and three sisters.

Revolutionary War: The Battle of King's Mountain

2008-09-27T21:50:00.000-04:00

As the Revolutionary War was fought, the people of our area played an important role in helping to turn the tide toward freedom so that our family lines could enjoy their pursuits of independence. Colonel Ferguson of the British army became frustrated with the havoc being caused by the renegade Overmountain Men and sent word that if they didn't lay down their arms and cease their actions, he would cross the mountain himself and hang their leaders and ruin their lands. Well, that was the wrong thing to say to those strong-willed men who were determined to have victory. In short, the frontier farmers and woodsmen living over the mountain pulled together and marched to King's Mountain to defeat Ferguson and his men!

I've had the pleasure on Thursday and Friday this week to watch the present day Overmountain Victory Trail Association (OVTA) members, shown here, re-enact and retell the story of that march and victory during their annual trek along the original trail taken to King's Mountain. They provide demonstrations and presentations for schools and civic groups along the way. What a wonderful celebration of history and a gallant effort to preserve the details of this important heritage! For more information about the OVTA, visit their website.

Participating in that battle that was a turning point of the Revolutionary War were men by the names of Breden, Collins, Harrell, Webb, and Williams, names from our family lines. Were those any of our ancestors represented there? I hope to find out!

Walnut Grove Lovedays

2008-09-26T21:59:00.000-04:00

Among the Lovedays buried at the Walnut Grove cemetery are Civil War veterans Perry and Tennessee, who both served in the Union Army in Company D, 2nd Tennessee Cavalry. Their father Henry, son of Edward, served in the War of 1812.

Perry, born May 14, 1834, enlisted at age 29 in Sevierville for three years. His enlistment papers show him as 6 ft. tall with a fair complexion, blue eyes, and brown hair. Perry married Angelina McMahan, daughter of Redmon and Rebecca McMahan, in about 1853, and they had at least 7 children. He died on May 16 1867.

Edward Loveday, Sevier County Progenitor

2008-09-25T20:37:00.000-04:00

Before the Ogles and Huskeys settled in what would become White Oak Flats, the Lovedays were already settled in Tennessee before 1800. Edward Loveday, who was born in Maryland, brought his family south of the French Broad River to live along the East Fork of the Little Pigeon River. Later post office addresses for him and his sons include Fairgarden and Harrisburg, near Walnut Grove and Flat Creek.

Land in the 4th district of the French Broad and Holston surveyed on June 12, 1807 (land grant #898, November 23, 1809) for Edward Loveday was 39 acres with a road for $39.30. The grant was signed by Governor Willie Blount's authority on May 12, 1810. At least some of Edward's land adjoined that of George Manning and Nathan Layman. Other neighbors included Foxes, Pattersons, Staffords, and Birds, as well as his sons Henry and Robert. At least an additional 25 acres was surveyed on May 2, 1832 and was granted on September 29, 1837.

Bethel Baptist Church (above) on Jones Cove road was established around 1801 and is one of the oldest churches in Sevier County. Church records show that several Lovedays attended there in the 1850s, and in 1875, 20 men and women agreed to go from Bethel to establish a church at Walnut Grove. Edward's grandson Ira Loveday, son of Henry, was among the first three deacons at the new Walnut Grove Baptist Church. More than 80 Lovedays are buried in the Walnut Grove cemetery.

How They Met: My Kitts Grandparents

2008-09-24T20:45:00.000-04:00

Soon after my grandmother Margaret Jane Hopson's family moved back near Washburn, TN, she caught the eye of George Washington Kitts one day as he was fulfilling the civic duty that each man had of taking his turn repairing the roads. He took one look at her and declared that she would be his wife some day! He came by her home one day, along with a young man who worked for her father on the farm, and the whippoorwills sang all night, but her parents had no idea then that George was interested in their daughter!

Papaw was born October 5, 1894, in Powder Springs, Grainger County, Tennessee, in an area Mamaw said was known as Dutch Valley. His mother, Nellie Loucinda (Collins) Kitts, was ill and passed away when he was young, so he was raised by the doctor who delivered him, Dr. Atkins, and his wife. They lived next door. For whatever reason, Mamaw's parents really didn't want her to be seeing that Kitts boy, so she secretly carried his photo in her "bosom" (see the worn crease in the photo) and eventually sneaked a few dresses out of the house before they eloped one Saturday, May 13, 1916, after a morning church service and were married at the home of the Reverend Phillips in Powder Springs. Ernest and Ula Needham were their witnesses. (These details came from Mamaw's Bible.) Mamaw knew she was supposed to be 16 to get married without the consent of her parents and her birthday was still a few weeks away, so she wrote the number 16 on a slip of paper, placed it in her shoe, and told the minister that she was "over 16!" She and Papaw returned to visit her parents home that night, where "they didn't throw a fit or nothin'."

Speaking of Unique History: Melungeon Roots

2008-09-23T20:30:00.000-04:00

I never knew my mother to do any creative writing, but I found a few note pages she wrote with the following story, which is obviously based on her personal memories and questions:

"As she drove up the narrow valley road, the blue, blue sky enhanced the floating cotton puffs of clouds as they drifted over the mountain to her right. The mountain, Clinch by name, stretched out as far as she could see in either direction. A spiral of smoke drifted up above the ridge a distance in front of her. Shortly, a train came into view on the tracks that paralleled the road. Her mind wandered back to her childhood when the engineer gave a toot on the whistle and waved to her and her brothers and sister. They often played in the strip of land between the road and the railroad tracks in front of their home, romping in the lush green grass and clover. Smiling to herself, she wondered how far along the track the chains of clover she and her brother and sister made would stretch. Would they stretch from the little town or hamlet that nestled on the valley floor, practically at the foot of the mountains, to the little community of Powder Springs (She mused, "Wonder where the name came from?") on further up the valley, and also nestled at the base of the mountain, where her paternal grandfather lived in a little three room cabin? Reveling in thoughts of those long, gone days, she could still see her grandfather, sitting outside the cabin, his twine-bottomed chair against the wall, strumming on his banjo. She remembered he always, even in summer, wore a hat. Wishing she had a photo of that scene, she dwelt on the image, visioning clearly the white mustache, flowing white beard, the suspendered pants, and crumpled shirt. He lived there with three grown sons until they married, then he was alone. Her mother always cooked a big dinner for them as they spent a Sunday with her grandfather. Grandpa, as he was lovingly called, would go out to the smoke house and cut a big hunk out of a home-cured ham. The thoughts of the delicious, tasty, ham made her mouth water. Then she was brought back to reality, a constriction in her throat. Yearning to know more about her ancestry, she wa heading to the courthouse of a county across the mountains. Not too far, as the crow flies, from the county seat lived the Melungeons -- those tall, dark-skinned mysterious people. There were many theories as to their origin. She was sure they were her people. Her dad was tall and dark-skinned, high cheek-boned and his mother was of a family same as one of the Melungeons. The name went back as far as anyone knew or heard."

Because I had begun my research focused on my father's line and never seemed to finish, it was many years before I began to work on her family line. Fortunately, others I encountered had researched her Collins ancestry. And yes, my grandfather Kitts' mother, a Collins, descends from the Melungeons! Pictured here is my mother's father, George Washington Kitts, described above.

Cherokee blood

2008-09-21T22:26:00.000-04:00

Many families that are native to the Sevier County area claim some tie to the Cherokees. Although physical features may certainly seem as evidence, determining the actual family link may be very difficult. Even with my green eyes and light brown hair, I've been told by more than one dentist that my front teeth seem to indicate a Native American gene or two, because they are "shovel shaped," cupped with a ridge at the upper inside. Other cousins have distinctive cheek bones, and some family members are very dark skinned. I've heard the Cherokee lore about more than one of my family lines, but who can prove anything?

Most individuals from older generations were very reluctant to speak about their Cherokee ancestry, simply because of the former stigma and the Trail of Tears experience that killed so many in the relocation to reservations. Those who wanted to stay in the mountains made every effort to be inconspicuous, explaining their dark skin as being a "Black Dutch" characteristic. However, no one is even certain what that is supposed to mean. Who are the Black Dutch?

In this day, those of us who feel a connection to the Cherokee spirit and roots are left to only imagine how we inherited it, but some of us take it pretty seriously. Pictured at top in a Cherokee ribbon shirt is my cousin George Brooks, who diligently seeks to learn more about the Cherokee ways and to celebrate them. Below is the back of his wife Gail, whose dress illustrates the sheathed knife typically worn by the women. If anyone can identify the Cherokee link in any of our family lines, we would like to know it!

Gatlinburg's first settlers

2008-09-20T21:36:00.000-04:00

Wiley Oakley's mother, Elmina Conner, was a great granddaughter of Gatlinburg's first settler, Martha Jane Huskey Ogle, whose cabin is pictured here next to the Arrowcraft shop. Oral history tells that Martha's husband William came to the area as a hunter and trader with the Cherokee and fell in love with the beauty of what would become known as White Oak Flats. He felled the trees for a log home and returned to South Carolina to prepare to move his family. While storing up food for the coming year of travel and settling the new home, he became ill with a fever and died.

Martha and their seven children traveled with her brother and his family to Virginia to deliver the news of William's death to his family there, then came to build the cabin from the cured logs that William had cut. They continued to live there, and Martha was among the members of the Fork of the Little Pigeon Church who requested in 1817 that an arm of that Sevierville church be established in the White Oak Flats community. Martha is reported to have been part Cherokee.

Cherokee roots

2008-09-19T23:27:00.000-04:00

Henry Oakley's son Wiley (b. September 12, 1885; d. November 18, 1954) was greatly influenced by the Cherokee heritage of his mother Elmina Conner's family. Wiley seemed to innately follow their ways and demonstrate their spirit in his appreciation and respect for nature. After Elmina's death in 1894, he spent much of his time wandering the hills and woods in search of a connection with his dear mother. His knowledge of the land earned him the nickname "The Roamin' Man of the Mountains." He served as a trail guide to many, and his entertaining stories won him the attention of some pretty important people like Harvey Firestone, Henry Ford, and Franklin D. Roosevelt, just to name a few. His wit and wisdom earned him the reputation as the Will Rogers of the Smoky Mountains. As a result, Wiley served in far away big cities as ambassador and spokesman for promoting the establishment of the Smokies as a National Park. However, he declined offers for lucrative contracts and preferred instead to live a simpler life near his beloved mountains, the home of his Cherokee kin.

Henry C. Oakley & The Battle of 'Burg Hill

2008-09-18T22:00:00.000-04:00

My great grandfather Henry Coleman Oakley recalled the Civil War Battle of Gatlinburg from his role as a "home guard," when he was just a teenager.

Saltpeter, used to make gunpowder, is said to have been mined at Alum Cave. Both sides would need it and yet would want to keep it from their foes. It was near the cave that Confederate commander William H. Thomas and his "legion" of about 200, comprised primarily of Cherokee soldiers, met Union Lt. Col. Lemborn and his group of 50 men. The skirmish lasted only about an hour, as the two sides battled their way in and out of Gatlinburg.

Henry Oakley told how he watched from a big rock overhang on Turkey Nest Mountain as the Blue Coats of the Union army rode around Burg Hill and the Confederate Gray Coats came around Graveyard Hill. They shot at each other across what would become the main part of town.

One Union soldier was captured. Although no one died, several wounded soldiers escaped, and all the Union supplies were taken, as the fighting dissipated between Gatlinburg and Kodak.

Henry Coleman Oakley, father of my grandmother Josie Oakley, died in 1920. Shown in the top photo is the reenactment group of the 63D Tennessee Volunteer Infantry, CSA, led by their captain, Henry's great-great grandson Jeff Noland, also pictured at right. Period photos of the modern 63d TN impressionists were taken by Wendell Decker of Vintage Studios, using the authentic war photography process.

Hopson Cemetery

2008-09-17T19:23:00.000-04:00

In 1998, Mother and I visited several members of extended family lines (Ritters) in Washburn, TN, and they were very helpful in telling us details and stories of family history. They also showed us where specific cemeteries were for our Rucker, Kitts, and Hopson families, and that same year, we went to the Hopson Cemetery for a reunion.

My great-great grandfather, David Ross Hopson, was born December 25, 1825, in Dutch Valley to Carolyn (Lively) and Jesse Hopson. David’s father Jesse was born in 1800 in Wake County, North Carolina, to Sara (Bunch, daughter of Ann and Martin Bunch) and Harrod Hopson. Harrod, the son of Richard Hopson, was born in North Carolina in 1778 and died before 1870 in Claiborne County. Sara divorced Harrod in 1835, and he later married Prudence (Henderson) Cunningham, the daughter of Elizabeth (Maples) and Isaac Henderson.

Oral history states that the Hopsons were traveling in a covered wagon with all their belongings, looking for a place to start a living but not knowing where to stop, when the old man Hopson died of pneumonia fever. His wife buried him and never continued their intended journey, settling nearby the cemetery that became the Hopson Cemetery we know today.

Hopsons and more Hopsons?

2008-09-16T17:13:00.000-04:00

The photo of the two couples includes William and Mary (Rucker) Hopson (standing), but who is the older couple? One way that William and Mary are easily identifiable in photographs is that she was just a little bit taller than he was!

Is the seated couple the same couple that's pictured in the this old tin type photo that's disintegrating? I believe it is. See how the the height of the man and woman is the same in relation to one another. Look at the shapes of the faces and the hair lines.

Personally, I think this is probably William's parents instead of Mary's, because neither of the seated individuals looks anything like the other Ruckers. If I'm correct, then the names of the seated couple are David and Eliza Jane (Rosenbalm) Hopson. They lived in the Dutch Valley area of Washburn, TN.

Eliza Jane (Rosenbalm) and David Ross Hopson were married in about 1851 in Claiborne County and lived and farmed in that Dutch area of Grainger County. David fought in the Civil War and is listed in the Civil War veterans census of 1890.

Midwives: Bradford Loveday's daughters

2008-09-15T22:00:00.000-04:00

When Civil War veteran Bradford Loveday's orphaned younger children came under the guardianship of fellow veteran Matthew Breeden, Bradford's three oldest children, Greeneville, Lucy Ann, and Arnettie, were already 16 or older. During their adulthood, Lucy Ann (left) and Arnettie (right) served the community as midwives.

From what I understand, they probably helped deliver the majority of babies born in the early 1900s in that area off of Jones Cove Road in Sevier County. Lucy Ann was described to me as always wearing an apron and always keeping a biscuit in her apron pocket. She is buried at Howard's View Cemetery.

I stumbled across my father's 1924 birth certificate, and sure enough, there was Lucy Ann Loveday's name as the attending midwife, stating that he was "borned alive."

Bradford Loveday & The 1863 Siege of Knxville, TN

2008-09-14T20:55:00.000-04:00

Perry Webb wasn't my only ancestor who participated in the battle of Fort Sanders at Knoxville. My great-great grandfather Noah Loveday's brother Bradford was there, too.

With Major General Burnside and the Union army inside the fort, which was located near today's Ft. Sanders Hospital, Confederate Lt. General Longstreet thought he and his men could attack at dawn and take them by surprise. He surveyed the fort through field glasses and saw men walking up to the fort walls, but what he did not see was that they were walking across planks that spanned a ditch that was twelve feet wide and from four to ten feet deep.

In the dim morning light with freezing rain, the Confederate soldiers charged, only to be tripped by taut, low-strung wire before falling helplessly into the ditch, unable to scale its sides or the fort walls. As such, they were easy targets for the Union. The battle lasted only 20 minutes, but the Confederates suffered 813 casualties, while the Union had only 13. At least 200 Rebels were taken prisoner from the ditch. Eventually, the Confederate dead were buried in the cemetery behind what is called the Mabry-Hazen House.

Pension papers filed in the late 1880s after Bradford Loveday's death show that neighbors (Henry Ward, Matthew Ball, Emanuel Hurst, William Yarberry, Byram Hurst, Daniel Hurst, and Lewis Breeden), some of whom were Bradford's fellow soldiers, attested to the illness and injury Bradford sustained from his time in Knoxville and suffered with until his death on September 20, 1883.

Perry Webb: Always serving others

2008-09-13T22:00:00.000-04:00

My grandmother Josie (Oakley) Loveday's grandfather was Perry Webb, a man who served his country, church, and community.

Perry was born on May 22, 1840, in Sevier County, and on March 24, 1858, he married D.L. and Julia Ann (Bryant) Williams' daughter Mary Jane.

As a Civil War soldier for the Union, Perry enlisted from Cocke County on September 26, 1863, as a private in Company K of the 9th Tennessee Cavalry and was promoted to Regiment Sargent of Company A. He participated in the battles of Greeneville, Wautauga, Bulls Gap, Morristown (2), Russellville, Blue Springs, Salt Works, and Wytheville, as well as the siege of Knoxville. For three months in 1864, he was on special duty guarding the Drake Creek railroad bridge. He was honorably discharged at Knoxville on September 11, 1865. His brothers Abraham and Milas were soldiers as well.

Perry served as deacon and trustee of Bethany Baptist Church (Jones Cove Road), and unfortunately, the church records were lost when his house burned. His faith was very important to him, and he would sometimes sing "the old camp songs" in his sleep.

He and Mary had twelve children, among them my great grandmother Sarah Catherine. They had a peach orchard on their land, and their large log home consisted of two cabin rooms with a fireplace between them and a frame kitchen to one side. In their front yard, they had an open well and beneath the apple trees a few bee hives, which Perry loved to sit and watch in the years after Mary's death on February 16, 1904. Perry died September 15, 1915.

*Some information obtained from a March 21, 1900 article in the Vindicator, shown in the Sevier Bicentennial book, 976.87 of the McClung Collection.

Haunting Mystery Image

2008-09-12T22:47:00.000-04:00

These photos intrigue me for so many reasons. The lady on the left in the third image reminds me so much of my mother that I almost can't stop looking at it. Who is she?

The other two photos appear to include my grandmother Margaret Hopson and her sister Eliza, independently with another lady in each. I would assume that the sisters are unmarried, because they seem to be dressed alike, and I think all three photos must have been made on the same day. I believe the year would have been about 1914 or so, since Mamaw got married in 1916. Anyone know the identities of the other two women?

Hopson Family

2008-09-11T22:00:00.000-04:00

This photo includes my grandmother Margaret Jane Hopson (seated far right) and her parents William and Mary (Rucker) Hopson (seated far left). Standing in the back on the left are Mamaw's sister Eliza, her brother Greenlee and his wife, holding their youngest child. Greenlee's other two children are also in the picture, but I don't know who the rest are. Can anyone identify them? (Note what appears to be a little stuffed poodle held by Greenlee's son. I wonder whether this is a photo made on the day of a family trip to the Stylesville fair, as described in the blog post about Mamaw's memories of Indiana.)

William Harrell Hopson was born February 22, 1862, to Eliza Jane (Rosenbalm) and David Ross Hopson in the Dutch Valley area of Washburn, Grainger County, Tennessee. Mary Isabell Rucker was born April 13, 1868, to Minerva (Jordan) and Samuel Rucker also at Washburn.

Mary and William were married about 1883 at Washburn and lived and farmed at Powder Springs, Tennessee, and about six miles from Amo, Indiana for several years. Willaim Harrell Hopson died June 10, 1921, at Powder Springs, and Mary died September 30, at Luttrell. Both are buried in the Hopson Cemetery, which is in an area called Oakman, near Washburn, Grainger County, Tennessee. .

D. L. Williams: Killed by Rebels

2008-09-10T23:44:00.000-04:00

Even though Tennessee seceded during the not-so-Civil War, many of Sevier County's men chose to fight instead for the Union. Lots of those families descended from frontiersmen who had fought alongside John Sevier and others in Revolutionary War battles like that at King's Mountain to establish the union and independence of the states.

The mountainous farms of East Tennessee were not heavily populated with slaveholders, and most ET men who fought for the Confederacy were conscripted or had hopes of rising in the social strata because of the trade and commerce that had grown with the deeper South within the 1850s development of railroad systems in the area. Many fought for the South because they deeply believed in the rights of states to make their individual decisions about slavery and other issues. (Two very insightful books about East Tennessee's conflicted role in the War Between the States are O.P. Temple's 1899 East Tennessee and the Civil War and W. Todd Groce's 1999 Mountain Rebels.)

Alternating occupation of Confederate and Union forces in the region wreaked havoc between neighbors and families, and Sevier County was greatly impoverished. Deserters and outlaws roamed the mountains, killing innocent citizens and pillaging farms for food and personal gain. Rebel soldiers came to my great-great-great grandfather Dillard (D.L.) Williams' home off Jones Cove Road above Bethany Baptist Church, and when he went out to face them, they put him on a horse and kept watch over him while they stole from the smokehouse and the corn crib before burning them. After that, they took D.L. up the road and shot him. His wife Julia Ann (Bryant) Williams survived and lived until January 19, 1898. D.L. and Julia Ann Williams were the parents of Mary Jane Williams, who married Perry Webb.

Sevier Hurst Grave

2008-09-09T23:06:00.000-04:00

Years ago when I was trying to piece together the family lines, Daddy's cousin Myrtle Patrick told me about the lonely graves of my great-great-great grandfather Sevier Hurst and his daughter. (Another of Sevier's daughters, Telitha married Noah Loveday, and I descend from their line.)

Apparently, Sevier died in Sevier County during the not-so-Civil War, when lawless bushwhackers and renegades roamed the mountains, terrorizing families. When Sevier and his daughter died, his wife and children were too afraid to hold a funeral in the cemetery, which was less than half a mile away. Instead, they buried them in shallow graves beside the house, with the intent to move them after the war. Of course, the war lasted much longer than anyone anticipated, and the move never happened.

Decades passed, the house disappeared, woodlands claimed the farm, and the only indications left of the graves were two stones surrounded by a fence. When Myrtle told me the story, she gave me directions: Go to the Gate Cemetery off Jones Cove Road, and from the back of it, walk 350 yards, then turn right. Walk half a mile, then turn right again. and go 350 more yards, finding the graves about 20 feet off to the right. My brother Kenny Loveday and I attempted to find them but never did.

This summer, my determined cousin George Brooks scoured a 3 mile area and finally found the graves! His report brought tears to my eyes. Although the chicken wire fence is all but gone, it seems that someone has placed a marker to honor Sevier and his daughter. The site may be found at N 35 degrees 51.818, W 83 degrees 20.032. Many thanks to Johnnie Hurst, who also helped with that effort!

Rucker Family

2008-09-08T23:17:00.001-04:00

Shown here are Uncle Simeon Rucker (with beard), my great grandmother Mary (Rucker) Hopson, and her brother Dewitt Rucker. Simeon was the father of Fait, Claiborne, and Rev. Ben Rucker. The Ruckers are of Scotch-Irish descent.

Rucker Farm

2008-09-07T21:47:00.000-04:00

My beautiful great-grandmother Mary Isabell (Rucker) Hopson (left) was born April 13, 1868 to Minerva (Jordan) and Samuel Rucker at Washburn, Grainger County, Tennessee. Minervia's mother was a Harvey. Minervia had a brother named Jack Jordan.

Mary Rucker Hopson is shown here at her brother's farm with her sister-in-law Mary, who married Dewitt Rucker (Mary Rucker Hopson's brother). Confused?

According to oral history, Mary's father Samuel Rucker put wood in the fireplace, then lay down on a sheep skin rug, and called, "Minervia!" but by the time she got to him, he was dead.

My mother, Wanda Lee (Kitts) Loveday was with her grandmother Mary Rucker Hopson, who was in the bedroom cutting out material for an apron when she just fell over. My grandmother and Gladys Merritt (Chet Atkins’ mother’s sister) were in the garden picking greens, when Mother went out to tell them about her grandmother Mary falling. Mary died that day, on Mother’s sixth birthday, September 30, 1930.

Loveday Gals and Others

2008-09-06T23:10:00.000-04:00

I love this photo of sassy Loveday gals and their cousins! I've been told that it was taken at Sally Loveday's wedding on July 28, 1915 and that it includes Ada, Dicey (second from right, back), Sally (far right, back), Georgia, and Winnie Loveday. If anyone can confirm the other identities, I'd love to know!

Sally Loveday (b. June 24, 1892) married Allen Kelly (right, back), pictured here with his cousin Horace Kelly (seated) and Sally's sister Dicey, whom Horace married.

Aunt Esta (Whitted) Breeden and the George Webb Cemetery

2008-09-05T22:00:00.000-04:00

I recently attended a Homecoming at Bethany Baptist Church, where several lines and generations of my family worshiped over the decades on Jones Cove Road in Sevier County, TN. Afterwards, I went with my cousins Guy Merritt and George Brooks and his wife Gail, along with new friend Angelia Hurst from Texas, to find some old cemeteries where our kin are buried. As shown in the photo of my daughter, I had been to the Russell Hurst Cemetery (also called the George Webb Cemetery) on Russell Hollow Road back in the early 1990s, when I had visited my grandmother Josie Caldonia (Oakley) Loveday's half sister, Aunt Esta (Whitted) Breeden.

Aunt Esta had told me how her daddy, Jim Whitted (my grandmother's stepfather) had carved his aunt's and uncle's stones, even though he couldn't read or write. His wife, my great grandmother Sarah (Webb Oakley), had shown him what to carve. My grandmother's stepfather AND her husband Jesse James Loveday were both descendants of the Hursts who came to Sevier County from the Shenandoah Valley.

On the day of the recent Homecoming, the little lane that led to the cemetery was overgrown and had become an obstacle course of weeds, briers, brush, vines, and fallen dead pines. However, despite the heat and physical challenges, we made it, allowing Angelia (pictured in black above) to find the elusive graves of her husband's ancestors, G.W. and Catherine Hurst!

Margaret Jane (Hopson) Kitts' memories of Indiana

2008-09-04T22:00:00.000-04:00

Mamaw always looked forward to when her mother would fry chickens and make cakes and pies to take to the July 4^th picnic at Stylesville, IN, where everyone in the area gathered for food, games, fun and fellowship once year. It was at the Stylsville picnic that she and her sister Eliza spun the wheel to try to win a little stuffed poodle. Mamaw won the poodle, and Eliza won a wiry spider, but it was Mamaw who later dropped the spider onto the bald head of Uncle Pete when he was visiting their home. She ran out of the room laughing when it fell into his long, snowy beard and he began to dance around! Needless to say, she got into trouble for “doing that poor old man that way.”

In the photo, Mamaw (Margaret Jane Hopson Kitts) is on the back row on the left, with the “Princess Leah” buns and the big, black bows and plaid dress.

Margaret Jane (Hopson) Kitts' brother Greenlee

2008-09-03T22:00:00.000-04:00

My mother's mother's family lived in Indiana for several years, but they eventually settled back near Washburn, TN, when Indiana began the practice of embalming the dead. My grandmother's father, William Hopson, wanted no part of that, and it wasn’t the norm yet in Tennessee! Mamaw said she was so sad and disgusted to come back to the hills, partly because she couldn’t stand up on the rough terrain and was constantly ruining her pretty stockings! She had also left behind a serious boyfriend, Gilbert Rhea, who was studying to become a doctor and wanted to come get her when he finished school.

Mamaw’s older brother Greenlee Hopson and his family continued to live in Indiana even after his parents and two sisters returned to Tennessee. Greenlee was a dapper young man who served as the local postman with his horse and buggy in his younger years.

Margaret Jane (Hopson) Kitts' school days

2008-09-02T22:00:00.000-04:00

My grandmother, Margaret Jane (Hopson) Kitts (center of circle), was a delightful lady with a twinkle in her eyes. She enjoyed telling stories from her childhood, which was spent divided between Tennessee and Indiana. When she was quite small, her family moved to Indiana but came back to Tennessee for a while before her father, William Hopson, sold their Washburn farm and went to a rented farm in Indiana, where her father's sister America Melvina and her husband Eli Sevier Branson also lived and farmed in or near Jamestown.

There in Indiana, Mamaw enjoyed things like taking her doll on Saturdays and riding with her friend Ruth Woods and Ruth’s older brother Arthur in his car, the first in the area, to the town of Amo. Mamaw was always on the move and enjoyed going to church, school, etc., but a few of the services of town, such as peddlers and the physician Dr. Enoch Idle came to them by horse! Sometimes she would take a buggy and her mid-sized, feisty pony, Nell, and drive herself to town. It was that little mare’s colt that was later gored to death by their oxen Berry and Ben at her ill Uncle Jess Hopson’s home, when the community gathered there to get his wood in before winter after he’d had a stroke and was partially paralyzed.

Webb Mountain Flood

2008-09-01T22:00:00.000-04:00

Among the stories Aunt Dicey (Loveday) Kelly told us in the early 1970s was one about the historic flooding of Webb's Creek at Webb Mountain. I've also heard Daddy talk about it throughout the years, but I didn't really appreciate the significance of it until I read more recent articles in his Cousin Myrtle (Justus) Patrick's scrapbooks recounting the event. (Myrtle passed away just a month before my father, Carl Loveday, in 2006, and her son Charles has very generously loaned me her scrapbooks.)

It was election night, August 5, 1938, when torrential rains set in, keeping many folks from reaching home after voting, forcing them to stay the night with friends and family. One man had left his car and walked home when he had been unable to ford a creek with it, only to return the next morning and find the vehicle many yards downstream… on its top!! Others awoke that same day to swamped fields and more impassable roads. Creeks had been rerouted by gushing waters unable to be contained within their natural beds, cutting new ravines throughout the area. The son of Atchley’s funeral home director was ready to celebrate his birthday only to get a call to come get bodies at the foot of Webb Mountain. He’d have to go around by Newport, he was told, because too many roads had been washed away along what would be his normal route. Within just a couple of hours, an estimated 15 inches of rain had fallen on the mountain and crashed down its slopes, creating a monstrous wall of water that had destroyed everything in its path!

When Atchley finally reached his destination, he was met by farmers who had come to help and others who were just morbidly curious. Jesse Evans and his wife Eula (Whaley) had been unable to get home from the polls and had stayed the night with Alfred and Lona (McCarter) Ball and their four children. The force of the destructive surge had blown the unsuspecting home to splinters upon impact. The occupants never knew what hit them. Their bodies were strewn down throughout the valley. As word spread across the farmlands, the locals came together to build their caskets and bury them.

Daddy would have been about 14 years old when it happened, and he was still in awe of the event even in his last years.

Visit with Aunt Dicie (Loveday) Kelly

2008-08-31T17:12:00.000-04:00

After gathering the basic framework of our family tree, one of the first visits I made was with my sister to see our Great Aunt Dicey Kelly (b. April 2, 1888). She was my grandfather Jesse James Loveday's sister, and she lived near the old mill in Pigeon Forge, TN. Among the things we learned from her was that her mother Callie's father, John Spurgeon, was a farmer who had lived to be 100 years old and still had all his teeth but one!

Dicey helped us straighten out some names and relationships, and she was a lot of fun to visit. She was a wealth of information, and we hoped to visit again. However, she passed away on July 16, 1972, and many family stories were lost with her death.