Curious About Their Gift

 

52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks: Week 4  (Jan 25-31)

Prompt: Curious

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 My ancestral family attended the Mt. Lebanon Church in Ozark County, Missouri.  A transcription of the church records listed when my 4th Great Grandparents, "Br. George Herndon & Sister Hannah Herndon came forward & joined by experience." (Dec. 1849). Later that same month, my 3rd Great Grandfather and his sister, "Br. Isaiah Herndon & sister Mary Ann Herndon came forward & joined by letter & was rec'd in full fellowship in our church."   

 The records list the Herndons, Pilands, Daves, and Norris family members among others as they joined or left the church, including Sarah Davis/Daves who later became Isaiah's wife. This is a piece of evidence which contributes to the evidence of their marriage since no marriage record has been found for them.  They are both listed in the church rolls in 1851 proving that they did know each other as there were only 47 listed at that time.

 In May of 1850, the record states, "2nd by a motion & second the church resolve that Brs. H. W. Herndon & Isaah Herndon be virtually liberated to exercise their gift in any way they think proper."

 As I read this the first time, I couldn't help but be curious about their gift.  What was the gift that my 3rd Great Grandfather and his brother had?  Were they snake handlers?  No, that couldn't be it, could it?  I decided to do some basic research and found there are many gifts that they could have, Ministry gifts, Manifestation gifts, Utterance gifts, Power gifts, or Revelation gifts.

 Since there are indications that the two men were excused from the church and then rejoined at later times, I suspect that their gift was Ministry, which could include being an apostle who establishes and builds churches, or an evangelist, prophet, pastor, prophet or teacher.  In July of 1850, the church resolved unanimously to grant Br. Henry W. Herndon license to preach which supports that conclusion.

 If you are interested in spiritual gifts, here are a couple of websites that I discovered which describes spiritual gifts listed in the Bible.

 Learning Religions:   

Tyndale House Publishers:

 Garr, Margie F. The old records of the Mount Lebanon Church of Thornfield, Ozark County, Missouri.  1992. Viewed at the Family History Library in Salt Lake City, Utah.

Golightley Blacksmith Shop

 

52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks: Week 3  (Jan 18-24)

Prompt: Favorite Photo

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Last year for the Favorite Photo, I chose to share pictures of my maternal grandparents. I thought it only fair to share a favorite picture from my paternal side this year.

From the time people graduated from foot power to horsepower, my ancestors have been involved in transportation.  My great grandfather, Robert, was a blacksmith. The first time I saw a picture of him, he was standing in front of his blacksmith shop with his two sons, George and Robert and my father, Leeland.

Blacksmiths made a wide range of items from kitchen utensils to architectural hardware and even farm equipment.  Most of us think of blacksmiths making horse shoes, although blacksmiths who predominately shoe horses or oxen are called farriers.  I have always thought it interesting that as transportation moved from horses to the early vehicles like Model Ts, my family went from blacksmiths to mechanics.  My Grandfather and Father were mechanics and truck drivers most of their lives. 

Below is a picture of my Great Grandfather's blacksmith shop which states he also does wagon wood work.  From left to right are Donald Wilcox Golightley (my Grand Uncle), Johnnie Golightley (my Grandfather), Leeland Johnston Golightley (my Father), and Robert Johnston Golightley (my Great Grandfather).

 

Treason: The Roswell Women

 

52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks: Week 2  (Jan 11-17)

Prompt: Favorite Find

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My favorite find always seems to be the last new piece of information that I found, but they don't come very often any more as I reach further and further into the past. 

 Last summer I was not really researching but playing around with Google when I came across a FindAGrave notice for Margaret (Sumner) Wood.  She is my husband's 3rd Great Aunt, so not a close relation at all, but the information on her FindAGrave was interesting enough that I spent hours researching the historical event that it mentions and how she fit into the family.

 Margaret Sumner, her daughters, and mother, Mary Ann "Polly" (Smith) Sumner were arrested for treason by William T. Sherman in July 1864. They were working in a textile mill in Roswell, Georgia making uniforms for the Confederate Army while their husband and father was fighting in the Civil War.  

 By some accounts, 249 women and children were arrested and shipped by train to Kentucky.  Margaret and her mother, Mary Ann died while in route.  Margaret's daughters Lucinda Elizabeth "Lizzie, Easter, and Mary Ann "Molley" survived the train trip.  At the end of the war, they were not given any help in returning to Roswell, GA. The daughters remained in Kentucky and married men from that area since they didn't have the means to return to Georgia.  Some of the ladies who were arrested eventually did move back to Georgia with their Kentucky husbands.  Many of the other women, remarried without knowing if their husbands survived the war and remained in Kentucky.  Many of the husbands returned to Roswell apparently unable to find their wives and/or daughters, remarried and had another family.

 Margaret (Sumner) Wood is the daughter of Benjamin and Mary "Polly" (Smith) Sumner, my husband's 4th Great Grandparents. 

There is a book related to this event that I am trying to track down.  For more information there are several accounts on the internet, including one at:  https://www.americancivilwarforum.com/charged-with-treason-the-plight-of-the-roswell-women-472.html

Foundations of Genealogy Research

52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks: Week 1  (Jan. 1-10)
Prompt: Foundations
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What are the foundations of my genealogy research? 

Everyone says to start with yourself and work backwards, but I didn’t hear that for many years.  So, I skipped my parents and my grandparents.  I became interested in my family history while I was in high school while all of my grandparents were alive for me to ask questions and talk to about their lives. I didn’t ask enough questions. I didn’t write down all that they told me, but they are the foundation of my research. 

I said I skipped my grandparents because I didn’t verify any of their information. I started doing actual research on their parents.  Many years later, I did go back and find the documentation for all of the facts that I already knew. I also found some pieces of information that I did not know.  My maternal grandmother told me she had lived in one county in Oklahoma from the time she was one year old until she married.  But I couldn’t find her in the census records when she was 5 years old.  I did eventually find her in a different county with her stepfather’s last name. She did not know that when she was 5 that her mother had moved with her stepfather to another county and then moved back.

When my mother decided to apply for Social Security, she needed her birth certificate to apply.  She asked me how to get her birth certificate. I had to sheepishly admit that I had a copy of it that she could use.  It saved her some time, and it was interesting watching her exam her birth certificate for the first time.

I found new information on my other grandparents, nothing really surprising. However, I filled out the details of their lives.  Start where you are the most interested, but some day go back and fill out the details, make the early connections, too.

My Grandparents