I'm really excited to see these new records at footnote.com...
The Guion Miller Roll Applications (NARA microfilm M1104, footnote.com calls this the "Eastern Cherokee Applications") has just been released and is slowly being added (the index and additional documentation is already complete, footnote.com calls this the "Guion Miller Roll"). Back in October or November I realized these applications were probably the source for much of the Patterson family information I had seen but been unable to verify. After living within a short distance of NARA for over 3 years I went downtown and broke through my biggest brickwall. I had given up finiding direct documentation by that point so I was almost overwhelmed when there it was in black and white in front of me. At the same time I felt very silly for practically sitting on this information for 3 years. These applications have provided documentation for other brickwalls (and built onto at least one) so I'm thrilled at the possibility of being able to search them electronically. Who knows what else I will find in them.
Showing posts with label Patterson. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Patterson. Show all posts
Thursday, April 2, 2009
Wednesday, April 1, 2009
Hicks K. Patterson Mayhem
I'll begin my first official "Mid-week Mayhem" post with the first mayhem I learned about in my family.
My great-aunt (who I've mentioned in several other posts) told me this story shortly after I began resarching my Patterson ancestors. She said her uncle Hicks (not to be confused with our great [great...] grandfather Hicks) killed his brother over a moonshine still. I didn't particularly do anything with this information and never came across any further information. My great-great aunt made some passing comment about it one time when I mentioned it to her but nothing memorable.
At some point I learned my 3rd great-uncle Asa was convicted of murder (more details on that in another post). One document indicated he had killed his brother so it seemed the story I was told by my aunts was a generation off (the uncle Hicks of my aunts' story was the nephew of Asa).
Low and behold, in 2006 I randomly received an e-mail with the image of a newspaper clipping in it. The sender had been told it was probably from the 1880s, about the time of Asa's problems. When I started looking into the Pattersons mentioned it became clear the clipping was much newer. Just to be sure I even verified the years of service of the Pickens Co., GA Sheriff mentioned. Because the clipping is so new I won't post the image here but here's a summary of what happened (according to the newspaper at least)...
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In late February 1948 Hicks Patterson "slashed" the throat of his brother Edward over the price of a fighting cock. Edward was found lying next to the road alive. He refused to name his assailaint saying he knew who did it but wouldn't say. He survived a few more hours after making this statement.
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There are a few points that are definitely incorrect in this articles. The article states Hicks was 70 and Edward 80, these ages are backwards. Hicks was the older, b. 1867, and Edward was ten years younger. My initial response is to believe the newspaper is at least partially hyping the story since a 70 year old man has his throat "slashed," lies next to the road bleeding, is found and makes a statement, and after several hours finally dies.
Since I only learned in 2006 that the players in this drama were actually those mentioned by my great-aunt, and due to the recent date of the events (i.e. the records aren't microfilmed and accessible in many locations), I haven't been able to pursue this story as much as I would like. I don't know what happened to Hicks K. with regards to this crime. He died in 1950. My great-aunt remembers visiting him. She says he was an old man with a long white beard and he was propped up in a big four poster bed. From this description I'm pretty sure he wasn't in prison. I'm not positive but my great-aunt may have said these visits were at Hicks's home.
My great-aunt (who I've mentioned in several other posts) told me this story shortly after I began resarching my Patterson ancestors. She said her uncle Hicks (not to be confused with our great [great...] grandfather Hicks) killed his brother over a moonshine still. I didn't particularly do anything with this information and never came across any further information. My great-great aunt made some passing comment about it one time when I mentioned it to her but nothing memorable.
At some point I learned my 3rd great-uncle Asa was convicted of murder (more details on that in another post). One document indicated he had killed his brother so it seemed the story I was told by my aunts was a generation off (the uncle Hicks of my aunts' story was the nephew of Asa).
Low and behold, in 2006 I randomly received an e-mail with the image of a newspaper clipping in it. The sender had been told it was probably from the 1880s, about the time of Asa's problems. When I started looking into the Pattersons mentioned it became clear the clipping was much newer. Just to be sure I even verified the years of service of the Pickens Co., GA Sheriff mentioned. Because the clipping is so new I won't post the image here but here's a summary of what happened (according to the newspaper at least)...
------------
In late February 1948 Hicks Patterson "slashed" the throat of his brother Edward over the price of a fighting cock. Edward was found lying next to the road alive. He refused to name his assailaint saying he knew who did it but wouldn't say. He survived a few more hours after making this statement.
------------
There are a few points that are definitely incorrect in this articles. The article states Hicks was 70 and Edward 80, these ages are backwards. Hicks was the older, b. 1867, and Edward was ten years younger. My initial response is to believe the newspaper is at least partially hyping the story since a 70 year old man has his throat "slashed," lies next to the road bleeding, is found and makes a statement, and after several hours finally dies.
Since I only learned in 2006 that the players in this drama were actually those mentioned by my great-aunt, and due to the recent date of the events (i.e. the records aren't microfilmed and accessible in many locations), I haven't been able to pursue this story as much as I would like. I don't know what happened to Hicks K. with regards to this crime. He died in 1950. My great-aunt remembers visiting him. She says he was an old man with a long white beard and he was propped up in a big four poster bed. From this description I'm pretty sure he wasn't in prison. I'm not positive but my great-aunt may have said these visits were at Hicks's home.
Tuesday, March 31, 2009
Sarah Townsend Patterson Tombstone
All I can read of Sarah Townsend Pattersons tombstone is "S.P. Wife." It is possible the top of the tombstone may have broken off but it doesn't appear there is information missing. Sarah was born between 1817 and 1823 and died on 2 September 1896 in Talking Rock, GA. She was hit by a train. Her tombstone is next to her husband's (Hix Patterson) in Philadelphia Baptist Church Cemetery in Jasper, GA.
Tuesday, March 24, 2009
Hix Patterson Tombstone
Hix (or Hicks) Patterson was born in Dec 1816 and died in the winter of 1904-5. You can see from the photos that his tombstone is very primitive. It appears to have been hand carved and is quite small. I have not had a chance to visit this cemetery with a full photo kit (grass clippers, mirror, tripod, etc.) so I haven't been able to get a very good picture.
The cemetery is Philadelphia Baptist Cemetery in Jasper, GA. If you are headed north out of Atlanta on I-575 (it becomes Zell Miller Mtn. Pkwy.) you keep going until you come to Jasper (the intersection with Hwy 53). You turn left on Hwy 53 (turning right takes you into downtown Jasper). You drive a short distance and turn right either onto Darnell/Log Cabin Rd. or a little further on onto Philadelphia Rd. (the two roads merge just before the church). Continue driving and you will see the church on your left and the cemetery on your right. Most of my families tombstones (at least those that are marked) are near the front of the cemetery. These are almost directly across from the church when you cross Philadelphia Rd.
Tuesday, March 17, 2009
Henry Ledford's Tombstone
Henry Ledford is the brother of my 3rd great-grandfather. He was murdered in 1866 (allegedly over his Union sympathies, haven't found documentation for the murder motive but his Union regiment is found right on his tombstone). Henry was the 4th son of John and Sarah Patterson Ledford and served in both the Confederate and Union services with three of his brothers, including my 3rd great-grandfather (their oldest brother may have also served however he had married by the Civil War and did not share the almost exact same service as these four brothers did).
Henry is buried in Jasper City Cemetery in Jasper, GA.
Thursday, March 12, 2009
John Ledford-Union Man
I am becoming very attached to my Ledford line. I am related to the same Ledford line twice (or is it the same Patterson line twice?), although it took me years to discover this. My great-great grandparents were Thomas Hill and Alma (Ledford) Patterson. Alma's grandparents were John and Sarah (Patterson) Ledford. Sarah's brother was Thomas Hill Patterson's grandfather. In otherwords, T.H. and Alma had one set of shared great-grandparents.
This double relationship only slightly has to do with why I'm becoming so attached to my Ledford line. Encountering them twice in the main line I research puts them high on my list of top researched families. In the last few years I have begun coming across sources that really flesh out the Ledfords. Originally I had such bare bones on them that they were just names, that's part of the reason it was so long before I discovered there were two Ledford-Patterson marriages in my direct line.
One of my favorite pieces of random Ledford history is courtesy of Alma's father's Civil War Pension application. William Nelson Ledford and his brother James Washington Ledford both applied for Union pensions and received them. Somewhere along the way it appears a law was changed and they lost their Union pensions. This was one of those situations a genealogist loves. Not surprisingly, neither man was too happy to suddenly stop receiving money. They fought the rejection with affidavit after affidavit (*note: both men's service was essentially identical and they claimed the same circumstances affected both of them so only one set of documents were sent for both men, these are filed in W.N.'s file). These were two of the most engrossing Union pensions I have ever read (although not as amusing or long as one of their possible cousins, that's another post).
From all the affidavits I am only sure of one thing. Their father, John Ledford, was a Union man. Most of the affidavits supported the borthers' claim that they were forced into Confederate service against their will or choice (this support isn't surprising, why would you find witnesses that disagree with you? The exact reason they joined the Confederate forces differs, though). Even those affidavits which state the Ledford boys willingly joined the Confederate army agree that their father was a Union man. This is the one point in the pension files that is consistent.
Sadly there is no indication why John Ledford was a Union man. Some affidavit's state he was pro-Union as early as the 1850s. I have been completely unable to determine who John Ledford's parents or family were or even where in NC he came from. In my research, he springs full grown into Northeast GA as the husband of Sarah Patterson (no marriage record has been found so even the exact location in NE GA is tentative, probably Habersham, the Pattersons were in Rabun). Without knowing about his roots, John Ledford's extremely strong (and well known) Union sympathies are unexplained.
I'm not so intrigued by John's pro-Union sentiments so much as how well known they seemed to be. The way this fact was threaded through the pension files made it stand out for me in a certain way. Pro-Union sympathies weren't uncommon in that part of GA and they aren't uncommon in my family. I have read a number of other Union pension files for relatives of this Ledford line (all from the same county) and none of them had any element of strong pro-Unionism. Perhaps it's just a fluke because W.N. and J.W. Ledford lost their pensions. Whatever the reason,...
John Ledford was a Union man.
This double relationship only slightly has to do with why I'm becoming so attached to my Ledford line. Encountering them twice in the main line I research puts them high on my list of top researched families. In the last few years I have begun coming across sources that really flesh out the Ledfords. Originally I had such bare bones on them that they were just names, that's part of the reason it was so long before I discovered there were two Ledford-Patterson marriages in my direct line.
One of my favorite pieces of random Ledford history is courtesy of Alma's father's Civil War Pension application. William Nelson Ledford and his brother James Washington Ledford both applied for Union pensions and received them. Somewhere along the way it appears a law was changed and they lost their Union pensions. This was one of those situations a genealogist loves. Not surprisingly, neither man was too happy to suddenly stop receiving money. They fought the rejection with affidavit after affidavit (*note: both men's service was essentially identical and they claimed the same circumstances affected both of them so only one set of documents were sent for both men, these are filed in W.N.'s file). These were two of the most engrossing Union pensions I have ever read (although not as amusing or long as one of their possible cousins, that's another post).
From all the affidavits I am only sure of one thing. Their father, John Ledford, was a Union man. Most of the affidavits supported the borthers' claim that they were forced into Confederate service against their will or choice (this support isn't surprising, why would you find witnesses that disagree with you? The exact reason they joined the Confederate forces differs, though). Even those affidavits which state the Ledford boys willingly joined the Confederate army agree that their father was a Union man. This is the one point in the pension files that is consistent.
Sadly there is no indication why John Ledford was a Union man. Some affidavit's state he was pro-Union as early as the 1850s. I have been completely unable to determine who John Ledford's parents or family were or even where in NC he came from. In my research, he springs full grown into Northeast GA as the husband of Sarah Patterson (no marriage record has been found so even the exact location in NE GA is tentative, probably Habersham, the Pattersons were in Rabun). Without knowing about his roots, John Ledford's extremely strong (and well known) Union sympathies are unexplained.
I'm not so intrigued by John's pro-Union sentiments so much as how well known they seemed to be. The way this fact was threaded through the pension files made it stand out for me in a certain way. Pro-Union sympathies weren't uncommon in that part of GA and they aren't uncommon in my family. I have read a number of other Union pension files for relatives of this Ledford line (all from the same county) and none of them had any element of strong pro-Unionism. Perhaps it's just a fluke because W.N. and J.W. Ledford lost their pensions. Whatever the reason,...
John Ledford was a Union man.
Sunday, January 25, 2009
January 25th
Today is a big day. It's my husband's birthday and Robert Burns's. Now some of you might think of the two events it would be easier to blog about my husband or his family, but no! If you don't know (or don't realise), Robert Burns is the Bard of Scotland. I'm not going to wax poetic about a poet instead I'd like to muse about my Pattersons (a possibly Scottish line).
I began my genealogy quest oh so many years ago because no one could tell me where my family came from, specifically my Patterson line. I still don't know. However, my Pattersons (and the twice related Ledfords) still remain my favorite line to research. They are always in trouble and provide no end of amusement while researching. I love my Patterson ancestors, particularly the ones I've never met. I'm very thankful for my law-breaking, difficult to find, aberrant ancestors. I've learned a lot about history, and of course genealogy, trying to track them down. They never leave me bored although I'm pretty sure I wouldn't like to meet them in person, particularly after they've been playing cards for several hours (and downing moonshine to match).
For several years now I've been wondering exactly what kind of people my Patterson ancestors were. I know so much about them and so little. I often wonder how the traits that got them repeatedly locked up have changed to bring me to where I am today. Alternatively, I wonder if those traits were lost and I'm much less Patterson than my mother always accuses me of being. In 2008 I felt I finally began to see a better picture of my ancestors as people and I hope 2009 will continue this.
I began my genealogy quest oh so many years ago because no one could tell me where my family came from, specifically my Patterson line. I still don't know. However, my Pattersons (and the twice related Ledfords) still remain my favorite line to research. They are always in trouble and provide no end of amusement while researching. I love my Patterson ancestors, particularly the ones I've never met. I'm very thankful for my law-breaking, difficult to find, aberrant ancestors. I've learned a lot about history, and of course genealogy, trying to track them down. They never leave me bored although I'm pretty sure I wouldn't like to meet them in person, particularly after they've been playing cards for several hours (and downing moonshine to match).
For several years now I've been wondering exactly what kind of people my Patterson ancestors were. I know so much about them and so little. I often wonder how the traits that got them repeatedly locked up have changed to bring me to where I am today. Alternatively, I wonder if those traits were lost and I'm much less Patterson than my mother always accuses me of being. In 2008 I felt I finally began to see a better picture of my ancestors as people and I hope 2009 will continue this.
Sunday, January 11, 2009
New Old Photos
This photo is actually one of many negatives I have from my great grandmother Patterson's house. For years I have wanted to get prints made but wanted to be sure I found someone I could trust with my precious negatives (I did find someone several years ago but then we moved and I just haven't had the heart to start over). A few days ago I decided to try scanning negatives and after a little trial and error here is a sample of the results!This is a photo of my great grandparents (Thomas Edward and Ethel Irene (Miller) Patterson) and their two children, my grandfather and great-aunt. I am guessing this photo was taken when my grandfather was leaving for the Army. He turned 18 on D-Day so his WWII service took him all the way to the exotic locale of New Jersey (pretty far for a Georgia farm-boy).
This photo was supposedly taken in Resaca, GA at the family home.
UPDATE: My great-aunt (the little girl pictured) has provided some
The car they are standing in front of is their "old Dodge" and the location is Resaca, GA. This house was actually owned by Miss Lulie Pitts of Calhoun, GA. The family lived there for a while. Today, the site is at the rest area off I-75 in Resaca.
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