Warrick, Margaret, Mary Mitchel, and Elizabeth named in Thomas Thompson's estate

This post is part of an ongoing project to record names of enslaved people of Greene County, Georgia I find in historical records. 

This receipt is included among the probate estate documents for Thomas Thompson of Greene County, Georgia, who died in June 1856.

Georgia, Greene County. Received this twenty-sixth day of December eighteen hundred and fifty-six of Samuel H. Thompson and Henry E. Thompson, Administrators on the Estate of Thomas Thompson, late of said County, deceased, the following negroes by name: Warrick a man, Margaret a woman, Mary Mitchel a woman, and Elizabeth a girl, as my full distributive share of the negroes of said estate.

W. L. Bishop

Reference

Union Point, Greene County, Georgia, Probate Estate Case Files 1790–1943, image 753, FamilySearch. 

Rebecca Longwell

Rebecca Longwell, daughter of Robert Longwell and Martha Elizabeth Rebecca Ferrell, was born July 24, 1823 in Virginia, likely in Tyler County before West Virginia became a state. She was the oldest of at least eight children—John W., Joseph, Robert, Mary A., Thomas Benton, Nancy Jane, and Martha. Rebecca is my husband’s 2nd great grandmother with their nearest common relative being her son Robert.

In the spring of 1823, a marriage bond filed in Tyler County noted that “a marriage is suddenly intended to be had” between Robert Longwell and Martha Ferrell. The phrasing was standard for the clerk, though Martha was already expecting their first child. They married on June 1, 1823, and Rebecca was born later that summer. By 1824 and 1825, Robert appeared on the Tyler County personal property tax lists as one adult male over 16 with no taxable livestock or enslaved persons—evidence of a modest beginning for the young family.

Rebecca grew up as the oldest of eight children, likely helping her mother with the younger ones as the family established itself in early Tyler County. On December 8, 1831, the Longwell home burned, destroying her father’s War of 1812 discharge certificate and likely many of the family’s early possessions. The fire, noted years later in Robert’s pension papers, occurred during Rebecca’s childhood.

Around 1846, Rebecca married Henry F. M. Church, son of William Clark Church Sr. and Sally Cohen, likely in Monroe County, Ohio. A later census suggests a marriage year of 1850, but the birth of their first son in 1847 makes that entry almost certainly incorrect. Through Henry, Rebecca married into one of the oldest Church families in the region: Henry was a grandson of Henry “Old Hundred” Church and Hannah Kiene, early settlers along Fish Creek whose descendants formed the core of the Littleton‑area Church community.

Rebecca and Henry had six children: William Henry, Sarah, Robert, Martha, George, and one unidentified child. They spent their early married years in Monroe County. On October 9, 1850, they lived in Ohio Township with their children William (3) and Sarah (10 months), and Rebecca’s younger brother Joseph, who was mistakenly enumerated as “Joseph Church.” Henry farmed land valued at $500, and the agricultural schedule shows a productive operation for a man of 24: five improved acres, 145 in timber, livestock worth $137, and a harvest of 1,100 bushels of corn. Rebecca’s parents and siblings lived next door.

During the early 1850s, Henry purchased two 40‑acre tracts in Monroe County—one from David and Elizabeth Paden in 1850, and another from Jacob and Ann Bare in 1852. Neighboring deeds confirm his residence there, and in 1856 he sold the Bare tract, marking the end of his Monroe County landholdings. These records place Rebecca and Henry firmly in Monroe County through the mid‑1850s, just before their move to Wetzel County, Virginia (now West Virginia), where they settled among Henry’s Church relatives along Long Drain. Their son Robert was born in Littleton in November 1850, and Rebecca’s father died in Monroe County in 1852.

On December 30, 1857, Rebecca and Henry sold 114 acres on Long Drain to Hew Garner for $407, retaining a lien until the purchase money was paid. The tract bordered land belonging to Henry’s brother Samuel C. Church, showing the two brothers’ farms lay side‑by‑side. Rebecca and Henry were living in Wetzel County when their son George was born in October 1858.

By July 30, 1860, Rebecca and her family lived in Sardis, Ohio Township, Monroe County, Ohio. The census enumerator recorded four children—William, Robert, Martha, and George—meaning that Sarah, who appeared in the 1850 census, had likely died during the decade. Rebecca kept the house while Henry farmed, with his personal estate valued at $500. William, Robert, and Martha were all attending school. George, the youngest, was two years old.

On August 16, 1870, Rebecca and Henry lived in Burton, Wetzel County, in the home of Henry’s brother Samuel C. Church and his wife Sarah Elizabeth Anderson. Although Samuel was listed as head of household, Henry still owned $1,000 in real estate, showing he held land independently. Rebecca and George were unable to read and write; Robert could read but not write; Martha and George attended school. The neighborhood was a cluster of Church families living on adjoining tracts along Fish Creek.

In November 1871, Henry conveyed a 28‑acre tract on the north side of Fish Creek to their son William, an early transfer of Church family land that bordered the old line of Henry’s grandmother, Hannah Church. This transaction shows that Rebecca and Henry were already helping their children establish farms in the neighborhood where the extended Church family lived.

On September 3, 1874, Rebecca and Henry joined the other heirs of Henry’s grandmother, Hannah Church, in conveying their inherited interest in a 194‑acre tract to Philip Shough. Their signatures confirm Henry’s status as an heir and Rebecca’s presence in Wetzel County by this date. Because the 1874 acknowledgment was later found to be improperly certified, Rebecca and Henry re‑acknowledged and ratified the deed in May 1890.

Rebecca’s son Robert married Lucinda Murphy in 1876, daughter of John Murphy and Joanna Ullom, in Wetzel County, linking the Church and Murphy families of Long Drain and Fish Creek.

In 1878, Henry had to appear in court because a 55‑acre tract he owned in the Green District had fallen behind on taxes. He paid the overdue amounts to keep the land, a small glimpse into the financial pressures Rebecca and Henry faced while raising their family along Fish Creek.

On June 5, 1880, Rebecca and Henry lived in the Church District of Wetzel County in the household of their son William, his wife Narcissus, and their children. Rebecca and Narcissus managed the home while Henry and William farmed. Rebecca’s nephew Doliver (or Dallaven) Longwell lived with them as an adopted son. Rebecca and her son George were able to read and write; Henry could not.

Rebecca’s mother died of paralysis in Monroe County on October 3, 1880, at age 75.

In November 1890, Rebecca and Henry divided their Long Drain property among their sons. They conveyed 71 acres to William, stating it represented his full share of their estate. William immediately sold the tract to his brother George, and Rebecca and Henry added another 7¼ acres the next day. 

Rebecca appears in an 1893 deed as an attesting witness when her son Robert and daughter‑in‑law Lucinda sold a 47‑acre tract on Long Drain to S. A. Carney. The land, part of the Littleton area, had come to Lucinda from her parents, John and Joanna Murphy. Rebecca’s signature shows she was living in Wetzel County and present at a transaction linking both the Church and Murphy families.

In July 1894, Rebecca and Henry, living in Littleton, signed an oil and gas lease with the South Penn Oil Company covering their 170‑acre tract on Long Drain. The lease granted drilling rights, pipeline construction, and rental terms, with Rebecca and Henry receiving one‑eighth of all oil produced and $30 per year for each gas well marketed off the property. The lease provided Rebecca and Henry with a small but helpful source of income in their later years.

On June 14, 1900, Rebecca and Henry were living on a rented farm in the Clay District. Rebecca reported having had six children, with three still living. Two of the surviving children are known—Robert (d. 1932) and George (d. 1943). Their daughter Sarah had died between 1850 and 1860, and one additional child apparently died in infancy and never appeared in the census. That leaves William Henry and Martha as the two children whose death dates have not yet been located. The census recorded July 1823 as the birth month and year for both Rebecca and Henry—correct for Rebecca, but incorrect for Henry, who was born in October. Their son William lived next door.

Henry died in Wetzel County on April 16, 1904 and was buried at Thomas Chapel Cemetery in Wetzel County. Rebecca shares a joint tombstone with him, though her death date was never engraved.

By April 27, 1910, Rebecca—now 86—lived with her son George and his large blended family in Clay District. Eleven people lived under one roof, with George farming to support the household. Clarence, George’s son by his first wife, attended a normal school. Rebecca’s paper trail goes cold after this census record.

Although Rebecca’s death date was never recorded, the records she left—census entries, deeds, and the stone she shares with Henry at Thomas Chapel—preserve her place in the Fish Creek and Long Drain community.

References

• Henry Church, U.S., Selected Federal Census Non-Population Schedules, 1850–1880.
• Martha Longwell, Monroe. Death Records 1867–1891, 1892–1908, image 103, FamilySearch.
• Personal Property Taxes, 1824, Tyler County, Virginia: Tyler. Personal Property Tax Records 1824, image 7, FamilySearch.
• Personal Property Taxes, 1825, Tyler County, Virginia: Tyler. Personal Property Tax Records 1825, image 7, FamilySearch.
• Personal visit to Thomas Chapel Cemetery, Wetzel County, West Virginia.
• Robert Church, Certificate of Death no. 15621, Littleton, Wetzel County, West Virginia, November 29, 1932.
• Robert Church, West Virginia, Deaths Index, 1853–1973.
• Robert Church, West Virginia, Marriages Index, 1785–1971.
• Robert Longwell, US, War of 1812 Pension Files, 1812–1815.
• U.S. Federal Census, Burton, Church District, Wetzel County, West Virginia, 1870, 1900.
• U.S. Federal Census, Church District, Wetzel County, West Virginia, 1880.
• U.S. Federal Census, Clay, Wetzel County, West Virginia, 1910.
• U.S. Federal Census, District 106, Ohio Township, Monroe County, Ohio, 1850.
• U.S. Federal Census, Ohio Township, Monroe County, Ohio, 1850, 1880.
• U.S. Federal Census, Sardis, Ohio Township, Monroe County, Ohio, 1860.
• U.S. Federal Census, Tyler County, Virginia, 1840.
• Wetzel County, West Virginia, Birth Records 1854–1898, Marriage Records 1854–1899, Death Records 1854–1899, Probate Records 1847–1899, Wills 1847–1899, image 35, FamilySearch.
• Wetzel County, West Virginia, Court Records 1879–1884, image 68, FamilySearch.
• Wetzel County, West Virginia, Deeds 1855–1865, image 337, FamilySearch.
• Wetzel County, West Virginia, Deeds 1870–1872, image 437, FamilySearch.
• Wetzel County, West Virginia, Deeds 1880–1882, image 410, FamilySearch.
• Wetzel County, West Virginia, Deeds 1890–1891, images 228–229, FamilySearch.
• Wetzel County, West Virginia, Deeds 1891, images 121–123, FamilySearch.
• Wetzel County, West Virginia, Deeds 1893–1894, image 361, FamilySearch.
• Wetzel County, West Virginia, Deeds 1893–1895, image 203, FamilySearch.

Dennis, Letty, Clara, Matilda, and Mariah named in Thomas Thompson's estate

This post is part of an ongoing project to record names of enslaved people of Greene County, Georgia I find in historical records. 

This receipt is included among the probate estate documents for Thomas Thompson of Greene County, Georgia, who died in June 1856.

Georgia, Greene County. Received this twenty-sixth day of December eighteen hundred and fifty-six of Samuel H. Thompson and Henry E. Thompson, Administrators on the Estate of Thomas Thompson, late of said County, deceased, the following negroes by name: Dennis a man, Letty and child Clara, Matilda a woman, and Mariah a girl, as my full distributive share of the negroes of said estate.

Rich’d B. Crowder

Reference

Union Point, Greene County, Georgia, Probate Estate Case Files 1790–1943, image 755, FamilySearch.

Charles Anderson

I recently shared the 11 Crown patents Charles Anderson received, so now let’s take a look at the rest of his story. Charles is my seventh great‑grandfather, connected to me through his son, Parsons Anderson, and later ties into my Wilson/Lankford line in Greene County, Georgia.

There is much about Charles Anderson that remains unknown. His parents, his exact birth date and birthplace, the names of any siblings, the full identity of his wife Elizabeth, when and where they married, and the complete list of their children have not yet been found by me in surviving records. What can be reconstructed is the life of a capable, respected, and deeply rooted man who became one of the most relied‑upon figures in early Prince Edward County in the Virginia British Colonies.

Born sometime between 1715 and 1725, Charles emerges in the 1740s as a substantial landholder along the Appomattox and Buffalo River watersheds. Between 1740 and 1760, he received 11 Crown land patents across Amelia, Goochland, Lunenburg, and Prince Edward Counties, ranging from modest tracts to enormous grants exceeding 3,000 acres. These patents place him among the earliest settlers in the region and show him expanding steadily westward as county boundaries shifted. His land appears repeatedly in neighboring patents, processioning returns (parish boundary walking records), and boundary descriptions, confirming his presence in the Stony Creek–Nottoway corridor, the Dry Creek and Green Creek watersheds, the Buffalo River forks, and the Sandy River region. A 1734 patent to Thomas Haynes even calls out “Charles Anderson’s corner” and “Charles Anderson’s lines,” proving that Charles already owned land in the area where his later patents lay.

By the early 1750s, Charles had become a central figure in Prince Edward County’s civic life. The court relied on him to build and maintain the county’s first courthouse and jail at Worsham, including a 12×16‑foot log jail lined with thick plank, sealed with pitch, fitted with iron bands, and equipped with a brick chimney. 

Approval of Charles’ proposal to build the county courthouse
and jail near his home at Worsham (Prince Edward County Court
Order, March 12, 1754)

He provided his own kitchen as a temporary jail, guarded prisoners for extended periods, and performed maintenance on public buildings and bridges. His ordinary license—renewed year after year—shows he operated a tavern that served travelers, jurors, and neighbors. His militia rank, recorded as both Captain and Colonel, reflects the trust placed in him during a period when local officers handled security, enforcement, and emergency duties. The county also compensated him for legislative service, paying him “Burgess wages” for attending sessions and traveling to Williamsburg.

Excerpts from the November 1754 Prince Edward County
levy order showing payments to Captain Charles Anderson for
guarding prisoners, using his kitchen as a temporary jail,
and performing courthouse maintenance and county labor

Charles appears frequently in civil cases, both as plaintiff and defendant, demonstrating his active role in the county’s legal and economic life. He pursued debt claims, witnessed deeds, proved instruments, served as arbitrator, and participated in processioning teams that reaffirmed neighborhood boundaries. He was appointed to commissions of Oyer and Terminer (special courts empowered to hear and determine serious criminal cases), a sign of high standing, and served as a vestryman of St. Patrick Parish. His land was repeatedly walked and re‑marked in processioning returns, placing him among neighbors such as Bibb, Childress, Price, Cobb, Venable, Richey, Dupee, and Beggar. A 1764 return shows a cluster of Anderson properties—Charles, Parsons, Edmond, and James—indicating a broader family network living on adjoining tracts.

Charles’ wife Elizabeth appears in a July 1754 deed when she privately relinquished her dower, confirming their marriage. Their son Parsons Anderson, born in the late 1730s, appears beside Charles in several records: receiving land from him in 1759, serving as a county guard, appearing in levy lists, and living in the same neighborhood. Although the records never explicitly state that Parsons was Charles’ son, their repeated side‑by‑side appearances strongly support the relationship: Charles conveyed land to Parsons, they lived in the same precincts, were listed consecutively in county service and levy records, and shared boundary lines in processioning returns. Together, these overlapping entries show Parsons functioning as an adult male within Charles’ household and community, consistent with a son who had reached maturity. Other Andersons—James, Edmond, and George—appear in the same precincts and court sessions, suggesting additional kin whose exact relationships remain to be determined.

Throughout the 1750s and early 1760s, Charles remained one of the most dependable men in Prince Edward County. He built the jail, maintained the courthouse, guarded prisoners, operated an ordinary, served as a vestryman, acted as a commissioner, and handled routine civil matters. His land transactions continued, including sales to Archibald Huchelroy, Abraham Martin, George Walton, Henry Ligon, and Richard Woodson. He witnessed deeds, proved instruments, and appeared in levy lists for public work such as repairing Bush River Bridge. His land was sold to Sandy River Parish for a glebe (parish‑owned land that provided the minister with a home, farm, and income), confirming his role in parish affairs.

Charles’ final confirmed appearance occurs in August 1765, when he was paid for two days’ attendance and travel as a witness in a civil case. After that date, he disappears from surviving court minutes, deed books, parish records, land transactions, and tax lists across Prince Edward, Amelia, and Lunenburg Counties. His exact death date and burial place are unknown; the document trail ends. My goal moving forward is to continue piecing together the Anderson family network—identifying family ties, locating missing records, and determining how Charles fits into the larger Anderson lineage of Southside Virginia.

References

• Burrell, LL. B., D.D., Charles Edward, A History of Prince Edward County Virginia: From Its Formation in 1753, to the Present, 1922.
• County court Orders 1, 1754-1759, Prince Edward County, Virginia: Prince Edward. Court Records 1754–1758, images 50–51, 55, 64, 70, 77, 81, 83, 87, 99, 108, 112–113, 115, 125, 144, 161, 164, 198, and 209, FamilySearch.
• County Court Orders 2, 1759-1765, Prince Edward County, Virginia: Prince Edward. Court Records 1759–1765, images 28, 40, 65, 68, 81, 93, 100, 102, 138, 150, 188, 196, 211, 218, 229, and 240, FamilySearch.
• County Court Orders 3, 1765–1767, Prince Edward County, Virginia: Prince Edward. Court Records 1765–1767, images 42 and 69, FamilySearch.
• County Court Orders 7, 1782–1785, Prince Edward County, Virginia: Prince Edward. Court Record Indexes 1782–1785, image 158, FamilySearch.
• Crown patent 1, Land Patents Book 19, 1739–1741, State of Virginia: Virginia. Land Patents 1739–1741, images 227–228, FamilySearch.
• Crown patent 11, Land Patents Book 33, 1756–1761, State of Virginia: Virginia. Land Patents 1756–1761, images 319–320, FamilySearch.
• Crown patent 2, Land Patents Book 21, 1742–1743, State of Virginia: Virginia. Land Patents 1742–1743, image 158, FamilySearch.
• Crown patent 5, Land Patents Book 26, 1747–1748, State of Virginia: Virginia. Land Patents 1747–1748, images 91–92, FamilySearch.
• Crown patent 6, Land Patents Book 28, 1746–1749, State of Virginia: Virginia. Land Patents 1746–1749, image 147, FamilySearch.
• Crown patent 7, Land Patents Book 30, 1750–1752, State of Virginia: Virginia. Land Patents 1750–1752, image 462, FamilySearch.
• Crown patent 8, Land Patents Book 34, 1656–1762, State of Virginia: Virginia. Land Patents 1756–1762, image 99, FamilySearch.
• Crown patents 3 and 4, Land Patents Book 23, 1743–1745, State of Virginia: Virginia. Land Patents 1743–1745, images 519–521 and 525–527, FamilySearch.
• Crown patents 9 and 10, Land Patents Book 30, 1750–1752, State of Virginia: Virginia. Land Patents 1750–1752, image 452–456, FamilySearch.
• Deed Book 1, 1754–1759, Prince Edward County, Virginia, Deeds, images 97 and 217, FamilySearch.
• Episcopal church Vestry Book, 1755-1774, Prince Edward County, Virginia: Prince Edward. Vestry Records 1755–1774, images 9, 10, 73–74, 83, and 91–92, FamilySearch.
• Land Patents Book 15, 1732–1735, State of Virginia: Virginia. Land Patents 1732–1735, image 479–481, FamilySearch.
• Land Patents Book 28, 1746–1749, State of Virginia: Virginia. Land Patents 1746–1749, image 726–728, FamilySearch.
• Land Patents Book 31, 1751-1756, State of Virginia: Virginia. Patent Records 1751–1756, images 66–67 and 548–549, FamilySearch.
• Land Patents Book 34, 1760–1762, State of Virginia: Virginia. Land Patents 1760–1762, images 297–299, FamilySearch.
• Order Book 10, 1764–1765, Lunenburg County, Virginia: Lunenburg. Court Orders 1764–1765, image 213, FamilySearch.
• Order Book 2 1/2-B, 1753–1754, Lunenburg County, Virginia: Lunenburg. Court Orders 1753–1754, images 176, 235, 242, 244, 261, and 278–279, FamilySearch.
• Order Book 2, 1748–1752, Lunenburg County, Virginia: Lunenburg. Court Orders 1748–1752, image 303, FamilySearch.
• Order Book 4, 1755–1757, Lunenburg County, Virginia: Lunenburg. Court Orders 1755–1757, image 122, FamilySearch.
• Parson Anderson, Virginia, U.S., Marriage Records, 1700–1850. 

Big Harriet, Cesar, Julia, Reuben, Edmund, Smith, and Marinda named in Thomas Thompson's estate

This post is part of an ongoing project to record names of enslaved people of Greene County, Georgia I find in historical records. 

This receipt is included among the probate estate documents for Thomas Thompson of Greene County, Georgia, who died in June 1856.

Received this December the twenty-sixth of Dec eighteen hundred and fifty-six of Samuel H. Thompson and Henry E. Thompson, Administrators on the Estate of Thomas Thompson, late of said County, deceased, as Guardian for Lavina Catchings, Elizabeth Catchings, and Lucy Catchings, the following negroes by name: Big Harriet and her two children Cesar and Julia, Reuben a boy, Edmund a boy, Smith a boy, and Marinda a woman, as my full distributive share of the negroes of said estate.

J. W. T. Catchings, guardian

Reference

Union Point, Greene County, Georgia, Probate Estate Case Files 1790–1943, image 757, FamilySearch. 

Hugh Gilchrist Wylie

Hugh Gilchrist Wylie, son of Hugh Wylie and Margaret Smith Williams, was born on June 1, 1871 at 15 West Bothwell Street, Anderston, Glasgow, Lanarkshire, Scotland. His parents had married less than a year earlier. Hugh appears to have been their only child, though Margaret had seven children from her first marriage to Frederick Colquhoun Peters, a house painter who died of lung disease in 1867. Margaret and Frederick’s children were John Ferguson Peters (about 1852–1856), Frederick Colquhoun Peters Jr. (1854–1855), Elizabeth Kirkland Peters (1856), Margaret Stevenson Peters (about 1858–1861), James Williams Peters (1861–1863), Robert Peters (1865), and Isabella Allan Peters (1867–1868). Isabella was born in May, after her father’s death. Notably, Margaret’s eldest son is recorded as ‘John Ferguson Peters’ in his 1852 birth entry, but both his 1856 death and burial registers give his middle name as ‘Colquhoun,’ matching his father’s.

Hugh in the Scotland birth register (1871)

Hugh is my husband’s 1st cousin 3 times removed, their nearest common ancestors being James Wyllie and Margaret Gilchrist, Hugh’s grandparents and my husband’s third great‑grandparents. His middle name honors his paternal grandmother, Margaret Gilchrist.

Born after census day in 1871, Hugh does not appear on that year’s enumeration, which recorded his parents at 13 Bothwell Street in the Barony civil parish and St. Matthew’s Quoad Sacra parish. The household included Hugh’s parents, along with step‑siblings Elizabeth and Robert Peters. Hugh’s father worked as a house painter, Elizabeth as a factory weaver, and Robert was a scholar. Their home contained two rooms with one or more windows.

By 1881, the family had moved to 59 Raeberry Street, Maryhill, still within the Barony parish. The household included Hugh’s parents, Hugh (age 9), stepbrother Robert, paternal grandmother Margaret (Gilchrist) Wylie, and a lodger, Annie Aird, whose occupation is illegible. Hugh’s father was now a journeyman painter, and Robert an apprentice draper. The home again had two rooms with one or more windows.

Scotland census (1881)

In 1891, the Wylies were living at 917 Garscube Road, Kelvin, Glasgow. Hugh (age 19) worked as a grocer’s assistant, his father continued as a house painter, and Robert was employed as a hatter and hosier’s assistant. Two lodgers, Lawrence Cain from Ireland and Thomas Baird from Glasgow, were both stone masons. The family’s home had grown to three rooms with one or more windows. 

Scotland census (1891)

On April 30, 1891, Hugh married Janet “Jessie” Turner, daughter of Joseph Turner and Janet Berwick, at St. Peter’s Parish Church, Kelvin, after publication according to the forms of the Church of Scotland. The ceremony was performed by Rev. Malcolm McLellan. At the time, both Hugh and Jessie lived at 917 Garscube Road, likely in separate flats within the same tenement. Hugh was a grocer’s assistant; Jessie, a domestic servant. Her father, deceased, had been an upholsterer, and her mother had remarried, becoming Mrs. McLean. 

Scotland marriage register (1891)

Their first child, Janet Berwick Wylie, was born September 20, 1891 in the same Garscube Road home. Hugh continued his work as a grocer’s assistant. By the birth of their son Hugh Gilchrist Wylie Jr. on October 21, 1893, the family had moved to 30 Braid Street, Milton, less than two miles away. Hugh Sr. was then employed as a mechanical engineer’s laborer, assisting with heavy manual work in the shop.

On January 13, 1897, Hugh lost his father, who died of bronchitis at Dennistoun after a week’s illness. Hugh Jr. was the informant on the death register. His father was buried in Lair 109, Sighthill Cemetery, Glasgow, at 3 p.m. on January 16, at a depth of eight feet. Hugh Wylie was listed as the proprietor of the lair; however, it is not clear whether that was father or son.

By November 6, 1898, when their daughter Margaret Williams Wylie was born, the family had settled at 22 Downs Street in Dennistoun, where Hugh had returned to the grocery trade as a salesman. The baby’s name honored Hugh’s mother, Margaret Williams, who would die just over a year later—on December 25, 1899 at age 69—at 160 Henderson Street in Kelvin, Glasgow, following a cerebral hemorrhage suffered the previous day. She was buried on December 27 in Lair 158 at Eastern Necropolis Cemetery, a plot owned by her first husband, Frederick Peters. Others interred in Lair 158 include Frederick Peters himself, Margaret’s step‑sister Isabella Peters, Elizabeth Milne, Benjamin Clark, and her step‑brother Robert Peters.

The 1901 census records the family still at Downs Street, spread across two pages. Hugh was listed as an insurance agent, employed rather than self‑employed. Janet (age 9) and Hugh Jr. (age 7) were scholars, while Margaret (age 2) remained at home with Jessie. The home had two rooms with one or more windows.

Scotland census—page 15 (1901)

Scotland census—page 16 (1901)

Their youngest child, Robert McLean Wylie, was born September 12, 1903 at the same address. Hugh continued as an insurance agent.

By 1911, the Wylies were still at Downs Street. The census confirms Jessie had borne four children, all living. Married 19 years, Hugh was now working on his own account as an assurance agent for the Prudential Assurance Company, selling life‑insurance policies and collecting weekly premiums throughout Glasgow’s working‑class districts. Janet worked as a laundry maid, Hugh Jr. as a mechanical engineer apprentice, and Margaret and Robert were attending school.

Scotland census—part 1 (1911)

Scotland census—part 2 (1911)

Life remained steady in 1921. The family continued at Downs Street, with Robert (age 14) the only minor. Hugh persisted in his work with Prudential Assurance Company; Janet was a laundress at M. McLean’s Laundry; Hugh Jr. an engineer fitter with Drysdale and Company Shipbuilding Engineers; Margaret a sewing machinist at Strachan, Creerar and Jones Drapery; and Robert a turner apprentice at North British Railway Locomotive Works. The enumerator noted “none” under dependent children.

Scotland census—part 1 (1911)

Scotland census—part 2 (1911)

Hugh remained at the Downs Street home until about 1929, when he, Jessie, Janet and eventually Hugh Jr. moved to 89 Burnbrae Street in Glasgow. Hugh lived at the Burnbrae address for the rest of his life, dying on June 2, 1939, aged 68, at 133 Balornock Road, Springburn, Glasgow—part of the Stobhill Hospital complex—of auricular fibrillation and myocardial degeneration, a chronic weakening of the heart muscle. His son, Hugh, who lived with him at the Burnbrae Street home, was the informant. At the time of his death, Hugh was still employed as an assurance company’s agent. He was buried in Lair 109 at Sighthill Cemetery, Glasgow, at 3:15 p.m. on June 5, 1939, at a depth of four feet.

Scotland death register (1939)

Sighthill Cemetery register (part 1)

Sighthill Cemetery register (part 2)

Jessie survived Hugh by six years, dying on January 21, 1945 in Springburn at age 75 after prolonged respiratory disease leading to heart failure. She was buried beside Hugh in Lair 109, Sighthill Cemetery.

References

• Elizabeth Peters, Statutory Registers Births 644/8 762, National Records of Scotland, 1856.
• Frederick Peters, Eastern Necropolis Cemetery Lair Book, Glasgow, Burial Records 1800–1970, image 128, FamilySearch.
• Frederick Peters, Statutory Registers Deaths 644/8 191, National Records of Scotland, 1867.
• Hugh G. Wylie, Glasgow. Burial Records July 1921–December 1933, image 574, FamilySearch.
• Hugh Gilchrist Wylie, Statutory Registers Births 644/8 1322, National Records of Scotland, 1893.
• Hugh Gilchrist Wylie, Statutory Registers Births 644/8 988, National Records of Scotland, 1871.
• Hugh Gilchrist Wylie, Statutory Registers Deaths 644/5 807, National Records of Scotland, 1939.
• Hugh Gilchrist Wylie, Statutory Registers Deaths 644/9 114, National Records of Scotland, 1967.
• Hugh Wylie, Census 644/3113/16, pp. 15–16, National Records of Scotland, 1901.
• Hugh Wylie, Census 644/623/13, National Records of Scotland, 1921.
• Hugh Wylie, Census 644/623/25, National Records of Scotland, 1911.
• Hugh Wylie, Census 644/840/9, National Records of Scotland, 1871.
• Hugh Wylie, Glasgow, Lanarkshire, Scotland, Electoral Registers, 1857–1962.
• Hugh Wylie, Sighthill Cemetery: Glasgow. Burial Records 1894–1899, images 209–210, FamilySearch.
• Hugh Wylie, Statutory Registers Deaths 644/395, National Records of Scotland, 1897.
• Isabella Allan Peters, Statutory Registers Births 644/8 899, National Records of Scotland, 1867.
• Isabella Allan Peters, Statutory Registers Deaths 644/8 205, National Records of Scotland, 1868.
• James Williams Peters, Statutory Registers Births 644/8 1668, National Records of Scotland, 1861.
• James Williams Peters, Statutory Registers Deaths 644/8 931, National Records of Scotland, 1863.
• Janet Berwick Wylie, Statutory Registers Births 644/9 1406, National Records of Scotland, 1891.
• Janet Turner, Statutory Registers Births 644/7 1504, National Records of Scotland, 1869.
• Jessie T. Wylie, Glasgow. Burial Records July 1921–December 1933, image 729, FamilySearch.
• Jessie Turner, Statutory Registers Marriages 644/9 190, National Records of Scotland, 1891.
• Jessie Wylie, Statutory Registers Deaths 644/5 126, National Records of Scotland, 1945.
• John Colquhoun Peters, Eastern Necropolis Cemetery Burial Register, Glasgow. Burial Records 1855–1861, image 11, FamilySearch.
• John Colquhoun, Statutory Registers Deaths 644/2119, National Records of Scotland, 1856.
• John Ferguson Peters, Old Parish Registers Births 622/Barony, National Records of Scotland, 1852.
• Margaret Smith Williams, Old Parish Registers Births 616/Stewarton, 1827.
• Margaret Steven Peters, Statutory Registers Deaths 644/1045, National Records of Scotland, 1861.
• Margaret Williams Wylie, Statutory Registers Births 644/3 2519, National Records of Scotland, 1898.
• Margaret Wylie, Eastern Necropolis Cemetery: Glasgow. Burial Records 1897–1901, image 144, FamilySearch.
• Margaret Wylie, Statutory Registers Deaths 644/9 1521, National Records of Scotland, 1899.
• Margt. Wyllie, Census 644/966/9, National Records of Scotland, 1881.
• Robert McLean Wylie, Statutory Registers Births 644/3 2364, National Records of Scotland, 1903.

Dinah, Randall, Joanna, Davy, Mary, Vina, and Daniel named in Thomas Thompson's estate

This post is part of an ongoing project to record names of enslaved people of Greene County, Georgia I find in historical records. 

This receipt is included among the probate estate documents for Thomas Thompson of Greene County, Georgia, who died in June 1856.

Georgia, Greene Co. Received this twenty-sixth of December eighteen hundred and fifty-six of Samuel H. Thompson and Henry E. Thompson, administrators on the estate of Thomas Thompson, late of said county, deceased, the following negroes by name: Dinah and her two children Randall a boy and Joanna a girl, Davy a man and his wife Mary, Vina a girl, and Daniel a boy, as my full distribution share of the negroes of said estate.

Sarah Thompson

Reference

Union Point, Greene County, Georgia, Probate Estate Case Files 1790–1943, image 759, FamilySearch. 

Jane Catherine Neal

This blog post is another in a series connecting the dots in my tree to the souls buried at Bairdstown Cemetery in Bairdstown, Oglethorpe County, Georgia.

Jane Catherine “Janie” Neal was born October 8, 1846, likely in Bairdstown, Oglethorpe County, Georgia, the only child of George W. Neal and Eliza Jane French. Her life began with both promise and sorrow. When Janie was just four months old, her mother died at the home of her brother, Hiram L. French, on February 13, 1846, of what physicians then called “derangement of the bowels,” a severe intestinal illness marked by dehydration and pain. She was only 27.

Although Janie is not a direct ancestor, she connects to my family through a long collateral line—she was the wife of the uncle of the husband of the sister‑in‑law of the first cousin of the husband of my great‑grandmother, Alice Beman Lankford, linking her through the Wilson, Stephens, Mullins, Callaway, and Lankford families.

With her father unable to care for an infant while working, Janie was sent north to Hampton, Washington County, New York, her mother’s birthplace. There, the 1850 census enumerator found her living in a large extended household of French and Neal relatives, including Ann E. French and Alice Neal, women almost certainly connected to her mother’s family.

Her father remarried in July 1850 to Elizabeth “Eliza” Washington Edmondson, and Janie gained a half‑sister, Julia Ann Neal. By 1860, Janie was back in Georgia, living in Bairdstown with her father, stepmother, and half‑sister. George Neal, a Vermont‑born mechanic, owned real estate valued at $2,000 and personal property worth $6,000—a comfortable position for the time.

At 19, Janie married John “Jack” L. Wilson on October 3, 1865, in a ceremony performed by Rev. Patrick H. Mell, one of Georgia’s most influential Baptist ministers. Together they built a family of four children: George “Neal” Wilson, Blanche L. Wilson, Julia Lawrence Wilson, and Ellen “Nellie” H. Wilson.

Marriage record for Jane and Jack

The early years of their marriage were marked by financial strain. Jack was declared bankrupt, and his relative William R. Wilson was appointed to manage his property and debts. Despite these challenges, the couple remained rooted in Bairdstown, where Jack served as postmaster beginning in 1869. By 1870 they had moved to Penfield, Greene County, where Jack worked as a grocer merchant.

Throughout the 1870s and 1880s, Janie’s life blended domestic responsibility with the realities of running a working farm. Although Jack was a merchant, their household managed roughly 75 acres of tilled and woodland by 1880, raising corn, small grains, cotton, and livestock. The farm required hired labor, and tax records show Jack expanded his holdings to more than 300 acres over the next decade. Janie herself owned a small-town lot in Bairdstown.

Her home was also a social center. In January 1886, she helped decorate the church for a local wedding, creating a floral arch admired by all. In July 1893, she hosted a summer gathering illuminated by Japanese lanterns, with music, recitations, and ice cream—an elegant evening remembered fondly by the community.

The mid 1890s brought family milestones. Blanche married Rev. Joseph A. Thomas in January 1895, and Julia married Herbert Emory Choate later that year. By 1898, Janie and Jack had moved to the Fishing Creek community near Woodville, where Janie became active in the Ladies’ Missionary Society.

The turn of the century brought hardship. Jack’s health declined, and he died on September 3, 1901. Janie applied for Georgia’s traditional year’s support, receiving real estate valued at $1,201—including the Bairdstown home, town lots, and farmland. A creditor, William W. Dozier, contested the award, arguing the properties were undervalued and should be used to satisfy Jack’s debts. The dispute moved through the courts for more than a year.

In the years that followed, Janie’s life was shaped by both loss and resilience. She hosted Nellie’s wedding in November 1901, and two weeks later her son Neal married Isabel Burdick Peck in Chicago. In 1903, she spent a period living in Athens, Clarke County, Georgia, staying close to extended family and finding steadiness in familiar surroundings as she adjusted to widowhood. But in 1904, tragedy struck: Blanche died, likely in childbirth, and her infant daughter, Annie Blanche Thomas, died five days later.

By 1920, Janie was living in Woodville with Nellie and her grandsons Neal and Albert Evans. Nellie’s husband, John R. Evans, died on June 29, 1913, and in the years that followed she increasingly relied on her mother for support. Sometime before the 1920 census, Nellie moved into Janie’s household, and the two women shared a home as they navigated widowhood together and raised Nellie’s sons. In 1923, Janie signed an affidavit for her son George’s passport application, listing her residence as 10 Park Lane, Atlanta—a home she maintained for several years.

Janie’s signature on George’s passport

During the 1930s, Janie lived as a roomer in Atlanta with her daughter Nellie and grandson Albert, who worked at Rich’s Department Store. For a time, they boarded in the home of the Gersham family, a household that provided stability and companionship during those years when all three were navigating life in Atlanta. In her later years she moved to the Candler Hotel in Decatur, a comfortable residence that offered companionship and routine. By 1940 she was 93, a widow for nearly 40 years.

She spent her final years back at 10 Park Lane NE, living with her daughter Julia until Julia’s sudden death in January 1944. Janie herself died on March 27, 1944, at age 97, after a long illness. She was buried beside her husband Jack at Bairdstown Cemetery.

Bairdstown (or Baird’s) Baptist Church

Born in the antebellum South, Janie lived through the Civil War, Reconstruction, Jim Crow, the boll weevil crisis, the Great Depression, and the transformations of World War II. Her life spanned nearly a century of Georgia’s history—from plantation culture to the beginnings of modern Atlanta—and she met each era with steadiness, devotion to family, and a quiet but enduring presence in her community.

References

• An Approaching Marriage, The Atlanta Constitution, Atlanta, Georgia, November 4, 1895.
• Atlanta, Georgia, City Directory, 1932.
• Attend Chicago Wedding, The Oshkosh Northwestern, Oshkosh, Wisconsin, November 23, 1901.
• Bairdstown, The Oglethorpe Echo, Crawford, Georgia, July 21, 1893, December 23, 1898, March 29, 1901, September 6, 1901, November 15, 1901, December 6, 1901, and October 9, 1903.
• Echoes by Mail: Fishing Creek, The Oglethorpe Echo, Crawford, Georgia, January 8, 1898.
• Elizabeth W. Edmondson, Georgia, U.S., Compiled Marriages, 1754–1850.
• Find a Grave, database and images (https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/48522540/blanche-thomas: accessed August 7, 2026), memorial page for Blanche Wilson Thomas (25 Aug 1868–8 Jun 1904), Find a Grave Memorial ID 48522540, citing Greenwood Cemetery, Cuthbert, Randolph County, Georgia, USA; maintained by Fat Quarter Quilter (contributor 47229861).
• Find a Grave, database and images (https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/76965413/annie_blanche-thomas: accessed August 7, 2026), memorial page for Annie Blanche Thomas (8 Jun 1904–13 Jun 1904), Find a Grave Memorial ID 76965413, citing Greenwood Cemetery, Cuthbert, Randolph County, Georgia, USA; maintained by Fat Quarter Quilter (contributor 47229861).
• Funeral Notices, Mrs. Herbert (Julia) Choate, The Atlanta Constitution, Atlanta, Georgia, January 10, 1944.
• George Neal Wilson, U.S., Passport Applications, 1795–1925.
• Gone to Rest: The Soul of a Good Woman Departed This World, Athens Weekly Banner, Athens, Georgia, October 28, 1890.
• Greene County, Georgia, Court Records 1897–1907, images 315–318, FamilySearch.
• Greene County, Georgia, Deeds 1862–1871, image 217, FamilySearch.
• Greene County, Georgia, Homestead Records 1888–1935, 1868–1899, images 175–177, FamilySearch.
• H. E. Choate’s Widow is Dead, The Atlanta Constitution, Atlanta, Georgia, January 10, 1944.
• In a... Social ... Way, Society Personals, The Topeka Daily Herald, Topeka, Kansas, November 7, 1904.
• In Cupid's Meshes: Two Loving Hearts Willingly Pierced by the Little God's Arrows, The Oglethorpe Echo, Crawford, Georgia, January 22, 1886.
• Jack L. Wilson, U.S., Appointments of U. S. Postmasters, 1832–1971.
• Jane C. Neal, Georgia, Marriage Records from Select Counties, 1828–1978.
• Janie C. Wilson, Atlanta, Georgia, City Directory, 1927.
• Julia L. Wilson, Georgia, U.S., Marriage Records from Select Counties, 1828–1978.
• Julia Neal, Georgia, Marriage Records from Select Counties, 1828–1978.
• Married, The Greensboro Herald, Greensboro, Georgia, October 3, 1872.
• Mr. Thomas B. Wilson, Georgia, Marriage Records from Select Counties, 1828–1978.
• Mrs. Janie C. Wilson Dies in Hospital, The Atlanta Journal, Atlanta, Georgia, March 28, 1944.
• Mrs. Janie Wilson, The Atlanta Constitution, Atlanta, Georgia, March 28, 1944.
• News of the Society World, Gowns Worn at the Wedding of Miss Isabel Peck, Chicago Tribune, Chicago, Illinois, December 1, 1901.
• Obituary, The Christian Index, Washington, Georgia, p. 71, February 25, 1847.
• Oglethorpe County, Georgia, Court Minutes 1879–1882, image 39, FamilySearch.
• Oglethorpe County, Georgia, Court Records 1881–1897, image 112, FamilySearch.
• Oglethorpe County, Georgia, Deeds 1891–1893, image 281, FamilySearch.
• Oglethorpe County, Georgia, Mortgages 1877–1883, 1869–1877, image 215, FamilySearch.
• Patrick Hues Mell; https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Patrick_Hues_Mell. 
• Thomas-Wilson: Two Noble Young Lives are Happily Blended into One, The Oglethorpe Echo, Crawford, Georgia, January 4, 1895.
• U.S. Federal Census, Agriculture, District 138, Greene County, Georgia, 1880.
• U.S. Federal Census, Atlanta, Fulton County, Georgia, 1930.
• U.S. Federal Census, Decatur, DeKalb County, Georgia, 1940.
• U.S. Federal Census, Georgia Militia District 232, Oglethorpe County, Georgia, 1860.
• U.S. Federal Census, Hampton, Washington County, New York, 1850.
• U.S. Federal Census, Militia District 138, Greene County, Georgia, 1870, 1880.
• U.S. Federal Census, Woodville, Greene County, Georgia, 1860, 1900, 1920. 

Little Harriet, Jane, Cherry, George, Jim, and Isaac named in Thomas Thompson's estate

This post is part of an ongoing project to record names of enslaved people of Greene County, Georgia I find in historical records. 

This receipt is included among the probate estate documents for Thomas Thompson of Greene County, Georgia, who died in June 1856.

Georgia, Greene County. Received this twenty-sixth day of December eighteen hundred and fifty-six of Samuel H. Thompson and Henry E. Thompson. Administrators on the estate of Thomas Thompson. late of said County, deceased, the following negroes by name: little Harriet and two children Jane and Cherry, George a boy, Jim a boy, and Isaac a man, as my full distributive share of the negroes of said estate.

William H. Thompson

Reference

Union Point, Greene County, Georgia, Probate Estate Case Files 1790–1943, image 761, FamilySearch. 

Charles Anderson’s Crown Land Patents in Colonial Virginia

I hadn’t set out to research Charles Anderson, my seventh great‑grandfather, when I began working through my Anderson line. In fact, I didn’t even know his name until I’d spent a week researching the lives of his son, Parsons Anderson, and grandson, Brazier Cocke Anderson. But once Charles appeared in the records, his story pulled me in, and I found myself pivoting from Parsons and Brazier to him. What emerged was a portrait of a man who left an extensive document trail that included 11 Crown land patents spanning more than three decades. I’ll share more of Charles’ story later—a Virginia landholder who later ties into my Wilson/Lankford line in Greene County, Georgia—but this sketch focuses specifically on his Crown land patents.

Over more than 30 years, Charles received 11 Crown land patents, showing how steadily he built and expanded his place on the Southside Virginia frontier. His first known grant, dated September 16, 1740, put him on Stone Horse Creek in Amelia County among long‑established neighbors like Mickie, Syme, Black, and Brooks. A 1734 patent issued to Thomas Haynes—covering 3,312 acres—confirms that Charles already owned a surveyed tract by that time, because several of its boundary lines ran along his land. From there, his patents show a gradual spread west and south through the Appomattox, Buffalo, Roanoke, and Meherrin River regions as counties such as Goochland, Amelia, Lunenburg, and Prince Edward were taking shape. Goochland originally covered a large area; Amelia was formed from it in 1735, Lunenburg from Amelia in 1746, and Prince Edward from northern Lunenburg in 1754, so Charles’s land stayed in the same region even as the county names changed around him.

In 1743, Charles secured 400 acres in Goochland County on Dry Creek of the Appomattox River. In 1745, he added two more grants—one in Goochland County and one in Amelia County—totaling 530 acres near Green Creek and Dry Creek, both adjoining prominent families such as the Woodsons, Michauxs, and Davis. These mid‑1740s patents show him consolidating land in a region experiencing rapid survey activity and shifting county boundaries.

400-acre Crown land patent (1743)

His largest single grant came on June 25, 1747, when he received 3,122 acres in Amelia County on the branches of the Buffalo and Mayo Rivers—a massive tract that marked him as a substantial planter with the resources and labor to improve frontier acreage. That same year he added another 400 acres in Goochland County on Wallory’s Branch of the Appomattox River, continuing his foothold in the watershed.

By 1748, county lines had shifted, and Charles’ holdings appeared in newly formed Lunenburg County, where he received part of an 886 acre tract on Little Roanoke. Two years later, on August 16, 1750, he expanded again in Lunenburg County with 315 acres on Stanley Branch, a small creek that feeds into the Meherrin River—issued the same day as a patent to Francis Anderson, suggesting coordinated surveys and a clustered Anderson presence in the area.

In 1751, Charles secured two more tracts: 400 acres on the South Fork of Buffalo River in Amelia County, and 240 acres on both sides of a small creek in Lunenburg. These grants reinforced his long standing position in the Buffalo–Roanoke corridor and his continued engagement with familiar neighbors such as Richey, Bibb, Morton, Begger, Davis, Harvey, and Duggins.

His final and second largest patent, issued June 30, 1760, granted 1,420 acres in Amelia County between Bryery Creek and the Buffalo River, combining previously patented acreage with 400 acres of new land. This late grant demonstrates that Charles remained an active landholder into the 1760s, continuing to consolidate and expand his holdings across the same frontier zone where he had been present since at least the early 1740s.

It may seem unusual for one man to receive 11 Crown land patents, but in colonial Virginia this was normal for settlers who had the money, labor, and reliability to keep improving new tracts. Patents were not special awards—they were routine transactions. As long as a man paid the fees, met the improvement rules, and had the ability to manage more land, he could apply for as many grants as he could handle. Charles fits that pattern, which is why his patents stretch across more than 30 years.

Charles’ patents show a steady, capable man who built a long‑term presence on the Southside Virginia frontier. Starting with a surveyed tract noted in 1734 and continuing through more than 5,000 acres of Crown‑granted land, his record shows reliability, resources, and strong ties to the families who shaped Amelia, Goochland, Lunenburg, and later Prince Edward County as the boundaries changed. All of his grants were issued under King George II and required him to clear land and pay quit rents—a small yearly tax of one shilling per 50 acres—obligations he consistently met. Together, these patents create a clear picture of a man who played a meaningful role in settling and stabilizing this part of colonial Virginia.

References

• Land Patents Book 15, 1732-1735, State of Virginia: Virginia. Land Patents 1732–1735, images 479–481, FamilySearch.
• Land Patents Book 19, 1739-1741, State of Virginia: Virginia. Land Patents 1739–1741, images 227–228, FamilySearch.
• Land Patents Book 21, 1742-1743, State of Virginia: Virginia. Land Patents 1742–1743, image 158, FamilySearch.
• Land Patents Book 23, 1743-1745, State of Virginia: Virginia. Land Patents 1743–1745, images 519–521 and 525–529, FamilySearch.
• Land Patents Book 26, 1747-1748, State of Virginia: Virginia. Land Patents 1747–1748, images 91–92, FamilySearch.
• Land Patents Book 28, 1746-1749, State of Virginia: Virginia. Land Patents 1746–1749, image 147, FamilySearch.
• Land Patents Book 30, 1750-1752, State of Virginia: Virginia. Land Patents 1750–1752, image 452–456 and 461–462, FamilySearch.
• Land Patents Book 33, 1756-1761, State of Virginia: Virginia. Land Patents 1756–1761, images 319–320, FamilySearch.
• Land Patents Book 34, 1656-1762, State of Virginia: Virginia. Land Patents 1756–1762, image 99, FamilySearch.

Caroline, Brag, Abram, Fanny, Madora, Charlotte, Amilla, and Milly named in Thomas Thompson's estate

This post is part of an ongoing project to record names of enslaved people of Greene County, Georgia I find in historical records. 

This receipt is included among the probate estate documents for Thomas Thompson of Greene County, Georgia, who died in June 1856.

Georgia, Greene County. Received this twenty-sixth day of December eighteen hundred and fifty-six of Samuel H. Thompson and Henry E. Thompson, Administrators on the Estate of Thomas Thompson, deceased, the following negroes by name: Caroline and child Brag, Abram a man, and Fanny his wife, and two children Madora and Charlotte, Amilla a girl, and Milly a woman, as my full distributive share of the negroes of said estate.

Thos. Thompson.

Reference

Union Point, Greene County, Georgia, Probate Estate Case Files 1790–1943, image 763, FamilySearch. 

Living Left in a Right‑Handed World

I was reminded by another blogger today, August 13, that it’s Left‑Handers Day, and that prompted me to revisit a post I wrote 16 years ago about the adventures of being left‑handed. It’s still very much a right‑hander’s world, and lefties learn early that ordinary tasks come with their own set of challenges.

I think back to first grade, when my teacher insisted I write with my right hand. I tried, but my brain revolted—I turned every letter backwards. My hand simply rebelled, flipping each letter the second I was told to use the “wrong” hand.

School never got much easier. Spiral notebooks were torture devices, with those metal rings digging into the side of my hand. I was lucky enough to avoid the classic pencil‑smudge problem, but desks, scissors, and even simple classroom tools were designed with right‑handers in mind. And don’t get me started on the number pad on a keyboard—always on the right, as if left‑handed people don’t exist.

Life outside the classroom wasn’t much kinder. At restaurants, my left‑handed son and I try to sit beside each other so we don’t play elbow wars with right‑handed diners. At work, I’d return from vacation to find all my supplies moved to the right side of the desk. My wireless mouse baffled every right‑handed IT guy who tried to use it without switching it over. Even the measuring cup in my kitchen seems determined to make me look through the glass to read the markings.

Household tools are their own adventure. Most handheld can openers are built for right‑handers, so making a pot of chili becomes a workout. Gravy ladles often have a single pour spout—on the right, of course—so pouring gravy with my left hand is a comedy routine. And while backward checkmarks feel perfectly natural to me, they look like hieroglyphics to everyone else.

Outdoor hobbies weren’t immune either. Fishing reels were made for right‑handers, and as a child I remember thinking about flipping the pole upside down just so I could crank with my left hand. Golf was no better; I never figured out which side of the ball I was supposed to stand on, which probably explains my lifelong disinterest in miniature golf.

Even everyday interactions take a little extra thought. Handshakes are expected with the right hand, so I have to consciously switch. When someone hands me paperwork to sign, it’s always angled to the right, requiring me to rotate it back. At the dinner table, I keep my glass on the left — and keep an eye on it so the right‑hander beside me doesn’t accidentally drink my beverage.

Some moments still make me laugh. My boss spent 20 years wondering why papers in the file folders were always upside down when he opened them. And when I was a teenage cashier—back in the days before scanners, when every SKU and price had to be typed in by hand—I had to remind my floor manager to assign me to the register where I could enter numbers with my left hand and move products with my right. Otherwise, every transaction took twice as long.

There are bright spots, of course. A few relatives share my left‑handedness—a son, two nieces, my late uncle, and my late mother‑in‑law. And I’m watching my grandson closely; he often favors his left hand. Maybe it’s wishful thinking, but I’d love to welcome another lefty into the club.

So, to all my fellow left‑handers: Happy Left‑Handers Day. We manage just fine in a world built for right‑handers. 

Winney, Sena, Granville, and Lucius named in Thomas Thompson's estate

This post is part of an ongoing project to record names of enslaved people of Greene County, Georgia I find in historical records. 

This receipt is included among the probate estate documents for Thomas Thompson of Greene County, Georgia, who died in June 1856.

Received four Negros to wit Winney a woman, Sena a girl, Granville a boy, & Lucius a boy as my full shair of the Negros of the Estate of Thomas Thompson, Deceased this Decr 26th 1856.

S. H. Thompson

Reference

Union Point, Greene County, Georgia, Probate Estate Case Files 1790–1943, image 766, FamilySearch. 

Frances J. Burnett

Frances J. Burnett was born on September 24, 1859, in Georgia, the daughter of Joseph B. Burnett and Drucilla Henson. Before Frances’ birth, Drucilla had been married to William Caton, with whom she had three children: Samuel Pride, Edward George, and Mary Elizabeth. After William’s death, Drucilla married Joseph Burnett sometime after 1845, and the couple had four children together: Madison T., Frances J., Laura, and Jane Burnett. Samuel and Edward adopted the Burnett surname following their mother’s remarriage. Frances is my half 3rd great aunt, our shared ancestor being her mother, Drucilla Henson.

By June 26, 1860, the blended Burnett–Caton household was living in Lawrenceville, Gwinnett County, Georgia. Joseph worked as a miller and held a personal estate valued at $100. Drucilla’s older children—Samuel, Edward, and Elizabeth—were still at home. Samuel, then a young farmer, held a small estate valued at $30. Frances, an infant at the time, was the youngest in a household that included her parents, her brother Madison, and her older half‑siblings. Sometime between 1860 and 1862, the family relocated to Newton County, Georgia, where they remained throughout the 1860s.

Frances grew up during the Civil War, a conflict that deeply affected her family. Her two older brothers, Samuel and Edward Burnett, both served in the Confederate Army, and each was taken prisoner—Samuel in Virginia in 1864, and Edward twice, first in 1862 and again in 1864. Both young men endured harsh conditions in Union prison camps before eventually returning home.

On September 22, 1870, the Burnetts were living in Conyers, Newton County. Only two children remained in the home: Frances (12) and Laura (10). Joseph continued working as a miller, while Drucilla kept the household. The Burnetts lived next door to the family of John M. Overton, brother‑in‑law to Frances’ half‑brother Samuel, who had married Millicent “Virginia” Overton. Other Overton relatives—including Abijah and Elizabeth Overton and Elizabeth Wooley—lived nearby. I descend directly from Abijah and Virginia Overton, linking my family to Frances’ through both the Henson and Overton lines.

On December 25, 1875, Frances married James T. Harrison, son of Asa Harrison and Mary A. E. Taylor, in Gwinnett County. Rev. G. J. Bagwell performed the ceremony. Over the next 15 years, Frances gave birth to 12 children: Garland Winfield, Charles “Charley” S., Georgia Savannah (“Georgie” or “Vanie”), Effie P., Felix P., Joseph “Joe” B., Emily Ophelia, Maggie L., William “Willie” V., and three unnamed children who died young.

Marriage license for Frances and James

On June 18, 1880, the Harrisons lived in the Harbins District of Gwinnett County. James farmed while Frances managed the home. Their sons Garland (3) and Charles (1) were their only children at the time. Frances’ brother Samuel, his wife, and their eight children lived next door. Sometime after 1880, Frances’ mother Drucilla died. Around 1893, her father Joseph remarried a woman named Elizabeth, and in 1894, Frances’ half‑brother Edward died and was buried at Almand Cemetery in Conyers.

On June 25, 1900, Frances and James were living in the Cains District of Gwinnett County. They had been married 23 years, and Frances had given birth to 10 children, with 9 living. James continued farming, assisted by sons Garland, Charles, Felix, and Joseph. Frances, James, Charles, Georgia, and Felix were recorded as literate; Effie, Joseph, and Emily were not. James’ widowed mother Mary (72) lived with them. Next door lived Frances’ father Joseph and his second wife Elizabeth, who reported having borne five children, four living—though it is unclear whether any were Joseph’s, which would make them additional half‑siblings to Frances.

The Harrisons remained in the Cains District through at least April 1910. Frances had now borne 12 children, nine still living. She and James had been married 34 years. James and their son Garland worked the home farm, while Felix and Joseph labored alongside them. The youngest child, William, was 16. Six adult children still lived at home, ranging from ages 18 to 29. All could read except Felix, and Georgia, Felix, and William were unable to write.

Frances’ husband James died on July 7, 1916, and was buried at Hog Mountain Baptist Church Cemetery in Dacula. When their son Felix registered for the World War I draft in September 1918, he listed Frances—then living in Winder, Barrow County—as his nearest relative.

Frances died on August 26, 1919 in Winder. The physician listed the primary cause of death as acute dilatation of the heart, meaning her heart suddenly enlarged and failed. The secondary (contributory) cause was chronic endocarditis, a long‑term inflammation of the heart’s inner lining that weakened it over time. Together, these show that her long‑term heart disease eventually led to a fatal heart failure. Frances was buried at the old Hog Mountain Baptist Church Cemetery in Dacula with her husband on August 28. Her death certificate listed her parents as Joe Burnett and Drucilla Henderson—a slight error, as Drucilla’s maiden name was Henson. Frances’ son Charles served as the informant.

Photo by Toni McCall, Find A Grave
 member 46868460

References

• Asa Harrison, Georgia, U.S., Marriage Records from Select Counties, 1828–1978.
• Edward G. Burnett, U.S., Civil War Service Records (CMSR) - Confederate - Georgia, 1861-1865
• Felix Harrison, World War I Draft Registration Cards, 1917–1918.
• Frances Burnett, J. B. Burnett, Georgia, U.S., Marriage Records from Select Counties, 1828–1978.
• Francis Harrison, Certificate of Death no. 10276, Commonwealth of Georgia, Bureau of Vital Statistics, State Board of Health, 1919.
• Fulton and Campbell Counties, Georgia, Cemetery Records, 1857–1933. 
• Knox County, Tennessee, Marriage Records 1792–1900, image 112, FamilySearch.
• Samuel P. Burnett, Georgia, Confederate Pension Applications, 1879–1960.
• Samuel P. Burnett, U.S., Confederate Soldiers Compiled Service Records, 1861–1865.
• U.S. Federal Census, Cains District, Gwinnett County, Georgia, 1900, 1910.
• U.S. Federal Census, District 407, Lawrenceville, Gwinnett County, Georgia, 1860.
• U.S. Federal Census, Harbins, Gwinnett County, Georgia, 1880.
• U.S. Federal Census, Hog Mountain, Gwinnett County, Georgia, 1870.
• U.S. Federal Census, Subdivision 163, Conyers, Newton County, Georgia, 1870.