Genealogy Travel: A North Carolina Treasure

CharlotteMecklenburg Library

310 North Tryon Street, Charlotte, NC

Do you have North Carolina roots? If you do a trip to the Charlotte Mecklenburg Library

would be beneficial. It is a beautiful library with many resources for genealogists. Take the elevator to the third floor, turn left and step into the spacious Robinson-Spangler Carolina Room. Be sure you have set aside lots of time to explore the many materials inside. Their booklet boasts, “The Robinson – Spangler Carolina Room holds the largest local history & genealogy collection in a public library in North Carolina.”

I wanted to uncover more about these surnames, all linked to my father’s Brown roots.

Ashley, Brown, Dillon, Kelly & Lawrence

Before my recent visit I checked out their website to investigate their holdings. There is a long list including:

·         Biographical & Surname Files

·         Books & Archival Materials

·         Federal Census & County Records

·         Local Government Documents

·         Historic Photographic Collection

·         Maps

·         Manuscripts

·         Newspapers & Periodicals

The list of resources looked very promising so during my recent visit to my son & his wife, my son & I spent an afternoon in the Carolina Room. We were greeted with a smile from the librarian and I asked her about the Surname Files. I had checked the list of surnames online and discovered they had files for Brown, Brumfield, Dillon & Lawrence. The librarian gave me a tour of the room, showing me the location of the books and microfilm resources and then went off to get the Surname Files for us.

My son & I settled ourselves at one of the large tables in the sunny room & got started to look through those files, one surname at a time. Unfortunately, none of the materials inside those folders matched what we now know about those branches. I hesitate to say they are not ‘our people’ because, when we learn more we may discover that they are. Next, we went to the shelves of printed family histories, looking for the same surnames. Once again we were disappointed.

Our next step was to search the shelves for information on the North Carolina counties where our families had lived. This is where we started finding our people!

I had prepared a quick ‘cheat sheet’ for the people we were looking for & their locations. This came in handy because there was no place to plug in my laptop & my battery does not have a long life. It was also helpful for my son who doesn’t deal with genealogy often. It looked like this:

BROWN         Hardy, c 1771 – c 1799        Jones Co., NC

                   Edward, 1730 – 1797            Jones Co., NC

DILLON         Richard, 1745 – 1833           no specific county

                   Theophilious, b 1796          Bertie Co., NC

                   Willis D., b 1787                Bertie Co., NC

KELLY           William S., m 1776            no specific county

LAWRENCE    Humphrey, c 1726 – 1772    Bertie Co., NC

                   Peter, c 1780 – 1852           Bertie & Edgecombe Cos., NC

We started pulling books for Bertie, Edgecombe & Jones counties. We pulled anything that covered the years our people lived in those locations. Soon we had piles of books on our table & we were telling each other that we had found information on our families! My son went out & added more money to our parking meter twice. Zae H. Gwynn’s book on Jones County had two dozen references to our Brown ancestors.

Almasy, Sandra L. Bertie County, North Carolina Wills 1761 - 1780. Joliet, Illinois: Kensington Glen Publishing, 1990.
· Bell, Mary Best. Colonial Bertie County North Carolina 1744 - 1753. Volume V; Abstracts of Deed Book G. Windsor, North Carolina: Colonial Bertie, 1965. We used Volumes IV, V & VI.
· Dunstan, Edythe Smith. The Bertie Index for Courthouse Records of North Carolina, 1720 - 1875. 1966.
· Gammon, David B. Abstracts of Wills; Bertie County, North Carolina; 1722 - 1774. Raleigh, North Carolina: 1990. His books covered 1774 – 1797 &1781 – 1797.
· Gwynn, Zae Hargett. Abstracts of the Records of Jones County, North Carolina, 1779 - 1868. Volume I. Kingsport, Tennessee: Kingsport Press, Inc., 1963.
· Haun, Weynette Parks. Bertie County North Carolina County Court Minutes 1781 thru 1787. Book V, Durham, North Carolina: 1982. We used Books I – VI, covering the years 1724 – 1792.
· Holcombe, Brent Howard. Bute County, North Carolina Minutes of the Court of Pleas and Quarter Sessions 1767 - 1779. Columbia, SC: 1988.
· Watson, Joseph W. Kinfolks of Edgecombe County, North Carolina, 1788 - 1855. Rocky Mount, North Carolina: 1969.

We only left the Charlotte Mecklenburg Library when closing time was rapidly approaching and we needed to start our drive before the traffic got too heavy. It is definitely a place I will return to when I can!

Census Sunday – ‘Mike’ Coyle

State & National Census Reports are filled with information for genealogists. Both the 

Michael Coyle

population & nonpopulation schedules give us insights into the lives of our ancestors. What have you found that is Surprising? Reassuring? Bewildering? Write your own Census Sunday post.

Recently I had a moment when I wanted to slap myself and say, ‘Why didn’t I do that sooner?’ Guess I just never thought about my great grandfather, Michael Coyle, as Mike. When I did I was able to find him in the 1915 New York State Census!

1915 NYS Census, New York City, ED 9, AD 28, block 1, pages 2 - 3; Michael Coyle family at 2033 Third Avenue.

Mike Coyle, head, 44 b Ireland; citizen, in US 28 years; Baker

Mary, wife, 44 b Ireland; citizen; housework

Children:

Helen, daughter, 18 b US; high school

Marion, daughter, 15 b US, school

Margaret, daughter, 13 b US, school

Tom, son, 11 b US; school

Lillian, daughter, 3 b US

[At this time one son had died & one more daughter was not yet born.]

Alphabetical Ancestors - M

M is for many different surnames.  If you share one of these names,

 let’s communicate. It is always good to learn more. 

M is for these Surnames…

Mark

Abraham Mark, 1812 PA – 1872 OH, was my 3^rd great grandfather. He married Mary Isabella Heffelfinger in 1839 Wayne Co., OH. They had eight sons: Thomas Jefferson, John, William, Marion, Abraham M., Franklin P., David & Edwin. The four oldest sons served in the Civil War. Thomas Jefferson Mark & John Mark died during the war. William Mark, my 2^nd great grandfather, was injured during the war but returned home, married and became the father of fourteen children. Abraham is in Reedsburg Cemetery. Abraham & Mary Isabella have many, many descendants.

Maronge

George Patrick Maronge married Glenda Merrel Fortenberry, daughter of Duviox B & Gussie (Alford) Fortenberry. They had two sons and a daughter.

Massie

In 1934 Otis Charles Massie [b 1912 OH] married Ethel E Good [1912 OH – 1950 OH], daughter of Albert Edward & Elizabeth Lodema (Moore) Good. They had three children: Virginia, Edward & Caroline, all born in OH.

Maurer

Elmer Maurer [b 1899 OH] married Pauline Morrison [1899 OH – 1979 OH], daughter of Seth Benner & Margaret Jane (Gruissy) Morrison. They had five children: Roy, Dale, Jack, Gerald & Joanne. Elmer was an electrician.

McCall

Daniel McCall [b 1860 NY] married Elizabeth Noye. They had six children: Margaret, Martha, Daniel, James, Mary & Patrick. James Joseph McCall [1898 NY – 1944 NY] married Marion Coyle [1900 NY – 1991 AZ], my grand aunt. They had no children. James was a New York City firefighter.

McClendon

David Jackson McClendon [b 1838] married Eliza Jane Smith [1846 – 1919], daughter of Wyatt & Euseba (Fortenberry) Smith. They had two children: Annie and Eugene.

McMillan

David J McMillan [1872 – 1950] married Ola Schilling [1880 – 1954]. They had twelve children: Wallie, Ethel, Ora, Mae, Lloyd, Archie, Velma, Mammie, Rhoda, David, Nadine & Evon.

Messmore

In 1880 Allen G Messmore [b 1830 OH] married Barbary Ritter [1857 OH – 1928], daughter of Isaac & Isabell (Fisher) Ritter. They had six children: David, Ada, Bertha, Oliver, Clyd & Edward, all born in OH.

Miller

In 1836 Frederick Miller [bc 1803 MD] married Barbary Ritter [1810 PA – 1895], daughter of Johannes & Anna Mariah Ritter. They had five children: Elizabeth, Philip, Ari, Mary & Anna, all born in OH.

Miller

Henry C Miller [1847 OH – c 1910] married Mary Catherine Ritter [1853 OH – 1938] in 1870 OH. Mary Catherine was the daughter of Isaac & Isabell (Fisher) Ritter. Their nine children were born in OH: Charles, William, Dora, Harvey, Jonathan, Emma, Anna, James & Russel.

Moore

Peter Jonathan Moore [1857 OH – 1929 OH] married Caroline L Gruissy [1863 OH – 1936 OH]. Caroline was the daughter of Augustus Ceaser & Mary Ann (Everett) Gruissy. Peter was a farmer and brick layer. Their six children were born in OH: Amaline, Lillian Vera, Floyd, Frances, Elizabeth & Ralph.

Morris

George a Morris [1877 – 1943] married Mary Louise Fortenberry [1881 – 1963]. They had seven children: Willie, Boyce, Theodore, Delphin, George, Lank & Pershing.       

Morrison

William Hiram Morrison [b 1830 NY] married Emily Benner [1839 OH – 1908 OH]. William was a shoe maker. They had six children: Thomas, Seth, Eldridge, Emily, Phoeby & Lolly. Their son, Seth Benner Morrison [1861 PA – 1952 OH] married Margaret Jane Gruissy in 1880 in OH. Seth was a farmer and later a paper finisher at Ohio Boxboard Co. They had eight children: Mona, Lena, Emily, Albert, Florence, Paul, Pauline & Peter.

Mowrey

Elizabeth Mowrey [1799 – 1871 OH] was my 4^th great grandmother. She was the daughter of Michael & Eve Mowrey. Elizabeth married Philip Heffelfinger [1787 PA – 1877 OH]. I would love to learn more about the Mowrey family.

Mullane

Daniel Mullane [c 1838 Ireland – 1930 Ireland] was the son of Thomas & Julia (Sullivan) Mullane. He married Brigid English. Their eleven children were bobrn in Ireland: Mary Josephine, Patrick, Thomas, Timothy, Ellen, Margaret, Frances Bridget, Margaret [a second Margaret], Daniel, Julia & Catherine. Daniel was a coach builder in County Tipperary.

Other ‘M’ surnames in my tree: Maley, Mattingly, McCormick, McCraw, McDaniel, McEleveen, Minter, Minton, Mowrer, Mullen & Munoz.

Holidays, BBQs & Family Reunions

A Time to Share our Family’s History

Browns on the Move

For many years our family has gathered for the 4^th of July. I remember being with my brothers and my cousins playing and looking forward to the fireworks as our fathers took charge of the grill and our mothers kept a close eye on the babies as they made salads. My father was the oldest of seven children and we were a large group when everyone gathered.

Sometimes we gathered at my Uncle Larry’s house on the lake. Fishing was included in the day’s activities. Sometimes we gathered at our house. We could see our town’s fireworks from the front lawn. In more recent years my husband & I have hosted the festivities: swimming in our pool, volleyball, games for the children, conversations, my husband & my brothers at the grill and lots of laughter.

This is the perfect time for me to share my recent findings on our shared family history. It is nice to reach out to people on the internet but even better to share in person. In the past I have displayed family photos, given out newsletters or distributed brief reports on recent discoveries. Sometimes I set up display boards. Last year’s boards including family trees & a tribute to our veterans over the years. My uncle brought along the rifle our great great grandfather had carried in the Civil War. That got lots of attention.

Six Generations of Browns Move From NC to NY; 

1779 to Present Day

I will put up the old boards again for anyone who was not able to come. I will also add a new display board. This year’s display board is “BROWNS on the MOVE.’ It tracks our family through six generation & six states, from 1779 to present day.

A Generation Chart

The six generations are:

1.    Edward Brown, Senior, c 1730 – 1797 NC

2.    Moses Brown, 1777 NC – 1838 MS

3.    Edward S. Brown, 1806 GA – 1856 MS

4.    Allen Moses Brown, 1836 MS – c 1870 MS

5.    Jasper Pascal Brown, 1865 MS – 1950 MS

6.    Roy Jesse Brown, 1902 MS – 1956 MS

My father and his siblings are the seventh generation. My brothers, my cousins and I are the eighth generation.

The six states are:

1.    North Carolina where Edward Brown can be found starting 1779.

2.    South Carolina where Moses Brown stayed briefly on his way to Georgia. c 1805

3.    Georgia where Moses Brown & family got passports to travel through the Creek Nation. c 1806 – 1810

4.    Mississippi where Moses, Edward S., Allen, Jasper and Roy lived. Many relatives are still there.

5.    Ohio where Roy J Brown traveled to c 1925, married & raised a family.

6.    New York where the Roy Browns moved c 1940 and where many of us live today.

I usually get lots of positive feedback from my displays. I have a young cousin from Minnesota who loved learning about our family’s veterans. One of my nephews is always interested in the history and studied family names before naming his children. Maybe one of these relatives will catch the genealogy addiction and will be the next to carry on the searching, the gathering & the sharing.

Tranquil Tombstone: Edwin & Martha Alford

Edwin Barksdale Alford
Born Nov 25, 1792
Died Mar. 10, 1878

Son of Jacob & Elizabeth (Bryant) Alford
Cemetery: Edwin B Alford Cemetery, MS





Martha P (Smith) Alford
Born March 25, 1802
Died August 8, 1861

Daughter of: Jeremiah & Joanna (Dillon) Smith
Cemetery: Edwin B Alford Cemetery, MS

Edwin & Martha are my 3rd great grandparents.


Edwin B Alford Cemetery
According to 'Cemetery Inscriptions Pike County, Mississippi 1750 - 1978' by Ray & June Sartin Parish, page 1:  "Cemetery is on a gravel road, 1 and one-half miles SW Silver Springs Baptist Church and 3/4 mile N of La. line.  On a hill just north of a small branch.  It is fenced out of a cow pasture.  Grown up with weeds and small trees."   

We visited there in August 1997. We had to walk through a cow pasture to find it. There was a tangle of weeds & thorns. I sincerely hope the stones there are still in good shape.

Driver's License Information

1923 - 1924

Nathan Gardner 

216 Mt Eden Ave., NY City

Born 1882; 5' 5"; WHT ML; 156 lbs; BLK eyes; BLK hair

Do you have a driver's license for your relative? This New York State driver's license belonged to my maternal grandfather, Nathaniel Gardner. Look at all the information it gives. Fortunately my grandmother saved this one & the one below. They were a bit of a surprise because I did not know they had a car. Nathaniel was NY City born and raised and I though he used public transportation only. He worked for the Western Union so perhaps he used a company car.

Read more about drivers' licenses and what you can learn from reading them. As early as 1910 NYS had photos on licenses. Read the New York Times article below.

Evolution of the New York Driver’s License

1935

Nathan Gardner

2856 East 197 Street, Bronx

Born 21 July 1882; White male; 149 lbs; 5' 5"; black eyes; black hair

This one includes his signature.

Book Report: Families of Cork

Michael C. O’Laughlin’s book, Families of County Cork, was a gift from one of our daughters for Mothers’ Day this year. The book includes: maps of the county, a short history of the county, a long list of the surnames associated with the county and checklist for doing research in the county.

I had the book on my wish list because of my mother’s Irish roots. Her great grandfather, Daniel Mullane [c 1838 Cork, Ireland – 1930 Tipperary, Ireland] was born in County Cork. I found our family in the town of Kanturk in Slater’s National Commercial Directory of 1846. Later the family moved to the neighboring County of Tipperary where they remained for decades.

I was hoping for any information on the family and information on how to research this area. This is what I found:

MULLANE, Mullan.

A name found centered in Cork for several centuries, and linked with Macroom there.

This does reinforce that my family began in Cork before heading to Tipperary. I was hoping for more. I intend to follow up on the resources listed in the Addendum. Who knows where that may lead?

Census Sunday – County Census Records

This week I went to my local County Clerk’s Office with a good friend to search for

records for her ancestors. You can read about our trip together in my previous post. We were able to uncover immigration and marriage records that added information to my friend’s family story.

I was happily surprised to discover that our county had conducted its own census! I have searched federal and state census reports of New York State but had no idea Rensselaer County had these records tucked away in the basement of the county clerk’s office.

The books are massive cloth covered volumes that we could barely lift off the shelves. They are not indexed in any way. Each of the census years are in two volumes: the City of Troy and the Towns of the county.

I have searched census records on microfilm, on line and in books with transcribed records. I had never held the actual census books before; the books where the census takers listed the names of the families they visited. I was glad that helping my friend had led me to that unique opportunity.

Those census reports included: names, sex, race, ages, place of birth; marital status, number of years in the area, type of house [brick, frame, etc.] & value of house.

We found my friend’s family in 1855 & 1875. Because we already knew the Ward Number where they lived [from US census records] it was not too difficult to go page by page and locate them. The records gave my friend new information for her family tree.

From now on I plan to look for similar records in areas where my ancestors lived. Who knows? Maybe I will uncover something as exciting as my local county clerk’s office.

Lawrence

Three Generations of the Lawrence Family:

1.    Robert Lawrence, c 1680 VA – 1744 NC, son of John & Mary Lawrence. He married Elizabeth, daughter of John & Elizabeth (Osborne) Nicholls. Robert & Elizabeth are my 7^th great grandparents. They had eight children: John, George, Humphrey, Thomas, Robert, Elizabeth, Martha & William.[1]

2.    Humphrey Lawrence, c 1726 – 1722 NC, son of Robert & Elizabeth (Nicholls) Lawrence. He married Ann Ashley, daughter of Thomas & Ann (Hicks) Ashley. They had five children: Frederick, Reuben, David, Anne & Nathaniel. Humphrey was a goldsmith in Bertie County, NC.[2]

3.    Anne (Lawrence) Dillon, c 1762 NC – c 1830 MS, daughter of Humphrey & Ann (Ashley) Lawrence. Anne married Richard Dillon, son of James Theopilous & Mary Dillon. They had nine children: Joanna, Nancy, Lawrence, Charkston, Willis D., Mary, Theophilous, Clara & Sarah. Richard served in the Revolutionary War. [3]^{, [4], [5], [6]}

---

[1] Creel, Bevin J. A Patriot's Legacy: The Family of Richard Dillon and Ann Lawrence From Bertie County, North Carolina To Southern Mississippi and Louisiana. Franklinton, Louisiana: Privately Printed, 2002.

[2] Ibid.

[3] Conerly, Luke Ward, Source Records from Pike County, Mississippi: 1798-1910; 1798-1910; South Carolina, Southern Historical Press, 1989.

[4] Pedigree Chart & Family Papers assembled by Zelda Marie (Alford) Fortenberry, 1994.

[5] 1820 US census, MS, Pike, NARA Roll M33-58, page 110; ancenstry.com. Richd. Dillon family.

[6] Pension Application for Richard Dillon, #2959; State of Mississippi, Pike County; Copy from National Archives Record Group #15A, R. 2959.