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COASTAL GEORGIA GENEALOGY
SOCIETY NEWS & REVIEWS (MAY 2003)
JUNE 22ND MEETING will be
held at the College Place United Methodist Church on Altama Ave. in
Brunswick at 2 p.m. Dr. Caroline Haley will be presenting the program.
Some topics that she would like to touch on are new research that is
available, filling in gaps in your research, being able to present your
research in a readable form, and are you looking for ancestors or
descendants? More info will be available in the next newsletter.
MARCH 16TH MEETING was
headed by Jerry Martin, who snuck in a birthday on us. Happy belated
birthday Jerry! Mr. Martin spoke of “What are you leaving behind?”
Meaning what is your life story, what are you leaving behind for future
generations? He showed us some excellent examples of cards that he made.
One with his boyhood home on it, and inside he placed a little “story” on
what happened in this house while living there. Marriages, deaths,
sibling rivalry. We also viewed a short program about using the “Family
History Catalog” from the LDS church. Very informative presentation
Jerry!
GLYNN COUNTY GENEALOGY SITE
For the last few months, I have been working with the folks at the Georgia
GenWeb Project and Susan Peterson, the Glynn County web page coordinator,
in order to take over the site from Ms. Peterson.
After a lot of trial and
error and error and some more errors, I have finally got the site up and
partially running.
In March and April, 1996, a
group of genealogists organized the Kentucky Comprehensive Genealogy
Database Project. The idea was to provide a single entry point for all
counties in Kentucky, where collected databases would be stored. In
addition, the databases would be indexed and cross-linked, so that even if
an individual were found in more than one county, they could be located in
the index.
Now, every state in the US
is joining in, including Georgia. The project is run by volunteers, like
myself and Susan Peterson. Plus, it’s not just about states and counties,
there are census projects, cemetery projects, genealogy clubs and
societies, historical societies, and mostly any group
genealogically-minded.
So check out Glynn County’s
genealogy site at:
http://www.rootsweb.com/~gaglynn today! Hosted by yours truly, Amy
Hedrick.
LAST SURVIVING CIVIL WAR
WIDOW DIES
One of the last living links to the American Civil War passed away on 19
January 2003 in Blaine, Tennessee at the age of 93. She will be buried
next to her husband in the New Corinth Church cemetery in Blaine. The
last veteran of the war died in 1950.
In 1927, 18 year old
Gertrude Grubb married 81 year old John Janeway after a three year
courtship, her parents would not allow him to marry her at the age of 15.
Ten years later John passed away at the age of 91.
As a widow of a veteran,
Jane has been receiving a check for $70 every month from the Veterans
Administration, since John Janeway’s death in 1937.
John joined the army at the
age of 18 after a chance encounter with some Union soldiers engaged in
battle. He changed his last name to “January” so that his parents would
not come looking for him. The pension checks came to Gertrude with the
last name of January.
Gertrude passed away in the
three room log cabin in Blaine, Tennessee that she and her husband lived
in since the beginning of their marriage. Electricity was just installed
a few years ago.
Alberta Martin, 95, of
Alabama is now the only surviving widow of a Civil War Veteran.
Confederate soldiers were never granted a pension by the federal
government so Ms. Martin missed out on that monthly support.
An interesting thought, our
government has been paying on pensions for Civil War veterans and widows
for about 138 years, all for Mrs. Gertrude Janeway.
THE BRICK WALL
The old saying time flies when you're having fun must be true, even more
so, the older you get.
The internet has been the
greatest tool ever for genealogy research, but be careful. There is a lot
of misinformation out there. I bought my first computer after having Bi-
Pass surgery in Aug 1999. I thought it would help pass the time before I
could get back to work. I got a lot of leads from the message boards and
it paid off.
I found cousins from
several tree lines. I still can’t get over how some people won’t give you
the information you need. Today I am sharing a little of my mother’s
side.
This was a tough nut to
crack. I had always heard and learned the hard way “don’t believe all you
hear“. My story is about Henry Isaac FERRELLl, my great grandfather. I
didn’t even know his name until a few years ago. I had always heard,
(family hear say) that my grandfather Steve Kinnard FERRELL, Sr. only had
one brother (not so). He had at least eight siblings, that really opened
up a lot to expand my research.
My great great grandfather
was Isaac FERRELL, he married Jane? (This is my brick wall). Isaac had
Mary Elizabeth, Henry Isaac, Milton S., and Sarah B. FERRELL. Isaac was
born about 1800 and died abt. 1858. His will was probated in 1859
Beaufort Co. South Carolina. Isaac owned a very large plantation called
Riceshire, at Johns Island, South Carolina. Isaac is shown on several
censuses as owning 4500 acres of land and several slaves, some of whom are
named in the will. I can not even begin to speculate as to why the oldest
child, and probably the heir to the plantation, decided to leave Riceshire
about 1853 and settle in Glynn County, Georgia.
Henry was born abt. 1820,
and married Mary Martha? Henry begins to show up on some Glynn Co. Jury
lists about 1854. I don’t believe he owned any property here.
The war of Northern
aggression started in April 1861. Henry enlisted in The Brunswick
Riflemen 26th infantry May 1861 as a private, he was discharged in Oct.
1861. My guess is at the age of 40 to 41 he was too old to stay in
service.
As far as I can tell, Henry
died in 1868 and is buried in Oak Grove Cemetery. I do not know where his
wife moved to or if she stayed in Glynn County.
My grandfather Steve
Kinnard FERRELL, Sr. was born 1864 and died 1941 and is buried in Palmetto
Cemetery. Steve married Clifford Isabell DRURY, from Glynn County. They
had seven children, one of which was my mother Hazel Louise FERRELL, she
married Woodrow Wilson SMITH, Sr.
I have found several of
Henry’s children. One was George Edward FERRELL, Sr. George married
Sarah Jane ENNIS and had three children, he moved to Darien, Georgia and
became a Harbor Pilot.
One daughter of Henry ,
Amanda , married Jacob H. HOTCH. Both are buried in Oak Grove Cemetery.
Another daughter, Louisa,
died about 1870 of consumption.
After Henry died in 1868, I
am sure his wife and children had a very hard time providing for their
selves. She may have placed some in an orphan home, as the family rumor
said. Maybe she moved back to South Carolina, if her parents were still
alive.
I am still looking, it is a
never ending search. The gratifying part to me is finding out as much as I
have. Thank you for allowing me to share this story with you.
Bill Smith
wssmith@btconline.net
INTERNET
Take a virtual tour of historic towns and homes. Before venturing out to
an unknown town, visit them on the web and get a sneak preview of what
they have to offer. Our own Brunswick, Jekyll, and St. Simons Island have
a walking tour online, among many other cities in the United States.
Brunswick: <http://www.brunswickexperience.com/>
Jekyll Island: <http://www.jekyllexperience.com/>
St. Simons: <http://www.stsimonsislandexperience.com/>
Atlanta Preservation Center Walking Tours at:
<http://www.preserveatlanta.com/walkingtours.htm>
Ghost Tours in St. Augustine, Florida at:
<http://www.infoperson.com/ghosttr.htm>
PUBLICATIONS
“The Encyclopedia of American Quaker Genealogy” by William Wade Hinshaw.
Originally published in the 1930s, it has now been reprinted by the
Genealogical Publishing Co., Inc. It is also available online at
subscription sites Genealogy.com and Ancestry.com. I like Genealogy.com’s
better, as it is the actual images of the pages, where at Ancestry it has
been typed up by their transcribers and you are not sure what page in the
actual book you are viewing.
This is a valuable source
for anyone with Quaker ancestors. I have many! Most of these records
cover a time period starting in the 1600s up to the 1900s.
The Quakers kept very
extensive records on their members, including births, marriages, deaths,
and other topics like being disowned from the church. These records
include dates and parents’ names, which is very helpful.
UPCOMING EVENTS
3 May 2003 7:30 p.m. “The View from Pompey’s Head” will be shown at the
First United Methodist Church at Norwich and Monk Streets. Tickets are
$10 and available at Hattie’s Books downtown and the Bookmark on St.
Simons Island. Proceeds are to fund a memorial for shipyard workers and
to repair a fountain in Hanover Square. For more info call (912)264-1456.
6 May 2003 “How to do oral
histories” workshop headed by Dr. Barbara Hendry and sponsored by Old Town
Brunswick Preservation Association. Dr. Hendry is an associate professor
of anthropology at Georgia Southern Univ. The workshop is free, but
pre-registration is requested. Call (912)264-1456.
10 May 2003 from 1 to 5
p.m. “Pride and Preservation, the 2003 Spring Home and Garden Tour”
sponsored by Old Town Brunswick Preservation Assoc. Advanced tickets are
$15, tour day $18 and are available at Hattie’s Books and Brunswick
Station downtown and the Carousel on St. Simons. Seven homes and two
gardens are on the tour, with the proceeds going to fund a memorial site
for shipyard workers in the new Liberty Ship Park and to repair a fountain
in historic Hanover Square on Newcastle Street. For more information
(912)264-1456.
11 May 2003 1 p.m. at the
library on Gloucester Street downtown. Ribbon cutting and dedication of
the newly renovated library.
16 May 2003 7:30 p.m.
Dwight Young of the National Trust for Historic Preservation will be
giving a talk on “The Heyday of the Grand Old Hotels”.
20 May 2003 “Reel Georgia”
film series continues with the movie classic Andersonville at the Wayne
County library at 7 p.m.
30 May 2003 at 10 a.m. Mrs.
Rockefeller Receives at Indian Mound. Mrs. Rockefeller, portrayed by Diane
Silvernail, will tell stories about her experiences in their family home
on Jekyll Island. Call the Jekyll Island Club Hotel for information and
reservations (912) 635-2600.
THE BRUNSWICK ADVOCATE
"Life at the Wayne Springs"
A traveler passing through
the pine forests of Wayne would not suspect that among the hills and
glades were the habitations of man-that elegance and wealth had made these
solitudes the scenes of social intercourse and happiness. Yet were he to
follow the windings of the carriage paths which so frequently enter the
public road, he would be conducted to rustic cottages, the abodes of
gentlemen, who retreating here from their plantation, spend the Summer
months, enjoying all the pleasures flowing from agreeable and refined
society. Within a short space are scattered some dozen families who live
on the most intimate terms. A club house in the neighborhood of the Post
Office, is the rendezvous on each Saturday for the gentlemen, where a
dinner is furnished by the members in turn. Billiards, bowling alleys and
quoits, furnish them with amusement, and not unfrequently “pic nics” and
dancing parties are got up and the ladies and gentlemen living within a
circuit of many miles invited. Such a party was had last week, and an
assemblage of beauty and talent that might will have graced the most
polished circles of our country, enjoyed the pleasures of a rural
festival. Such little events serve much to break the monotony of a
secluded life, and until Brunswick shall contain within itself that
greatest source of happiness, refined society, commend us to the Wayne
parties.
6 July 1837
MEMBERSHIP INFORMATION
Annual membership to the CGGS is only $15 for one person or $18 for a
family. Membership extends from 1 January 2003 to 31 December 2003.
Remit payment to our treasurer:
Barbara Baethke
119 Bayberry Circle
St. Simons Is. , GA 31522 |
