TERRY FAMILY

Dennis Terry, son of Roy Terry, son of Wesley S. Terry of Barry Co., MO, son of John King Terry, son of Martin Terry, son of William Terry and Barbara Ennis of Botetourt County, Va

NEW INFO ON OLD PHOTO

Since 1973, as I was awaiting the birth of my first child, I began to help pull together family history fir the coming generation.  It has been a long, and often frustrating journey through great gaps in knowledge, lost records, and memories long forgotten.   Luckily, a connection was established to another line and recently a first touch of connection to yet another.  Small pieces, a date here, a photo there, a hint or an idea, long shots and wild guesses. Luckily, a scant history has been growing.  In this photo, another person has now been positively identified: Left to right front row: Albert Easley, Victoria Waters Hudson Easley, granddaughter Hill, Elizabeth Hudson Hill, Louis Eugene Hudson, unknown woman, Alonzao Waters (?); back row, Alex Hill, Jess Hudson. It was taken in Poplar Bluff, Mo.



SAVED FROM THE TRASH

The move had gone smoothly, just finishing just some odds and ends from a garage workshop.  A container was found, long overlooked, and when it was opened a gasp!   There was a folded and very delicate old document disentegrating at the folds, old tape crumbled from some long ago repair attempt. 

It was so lovely though, a marriage certificate from 1912 issued in Wichita, Kansas.

George COCHREN of Plevna, Ks and Annie B. BROWN of Partridge, Ks had united in marriage 16 July 1912 by Probate Judge D.A. McCandless.

Drastic measures were needed to save it from totally loss but it worked and today the document is preserved and hangs on a wall.

Ten Things that Surprised, Humbled, or Enlightened Me About My Ancestors

1. That they existed.  Silly as that sounds but there is a moment in life when you realize you are not the beginning and end of all creation.  You are part of a long chain of being that stretches back into a distant past.  In your being (in your blood, bone, and DNA) you carry the sum total of all those who came before you.  That possibly in the dusty forgotten corners of your brain are even hidden memories passed along to help each generation survive, feel connected, and learn.

2. That they were so like we are today. They were not two dimensional artificial ideas but living, breathing people. They laughed, cried, worked, and dreamed. They loved, grew angry, felt rejection, struggled on, and existed

3. That some of them suffered so I could enjoy the things we take so much for granted. The soldiers, the patriots, and those who fought for causes they believed in with their whole heart and being.  A great grandfather who faced an army in Northern Georgia and felt the minnie ball severe an artery in his leg and spent the next six months in Army hospitals recovering from the trauma and the tender care of the medical world of his day.  A more distant relative who one day answered the call to fight for an idea and for freedom and fought the British in North Carolina.  Farmers who battled the elements to establish productive lands that feed a nation. 

4. That they too had dreams and visions.  The discovery and realization that your ancestors had aspirations for their life - some realized and some never achieved. To learn that stern faced old aunt had wanted to be an opera singer or that cranky old man had wanted to fly a plane.  To learn that an ancestor sold all they had to make a crossing to a new land and fought through a new world, to take on  a new life, and to finally achieve their dream of owning their own land.

5. That faith and honor are important. 

6. That family is crucial.  Extended, created, or adopted - family is an important element in the live of any person and helps them develop as healthy individual.

7. That commitment, hard work, and dedication really do pay off.  

8. That knowing about scoundrel ancestors is better than not having them at all.  I love my scoundrels! I can look at them and say (depending on the mood) "There, but for the grace of God go I" or "My God - never let me turn into them!"  They can serve as a lesson, "Remember Uncle Victor!" They can serve as a motivation and spur -" Never, become a Great Aunt Sybil!"

9. That sharing their stories is important. Winners or losers - they have something teach to those who come after them. Sharing their stories keeps them alive.

10. That I am made a better person for knowing something about who my ancestors were, accepting their warts and their tiaras gives me wisdom and tolerance, and that sharing who they were.

[All names are fictitious to keep me safe!]

Ancestor Approved Award

I was recently awarded the “Ancestors Approved” Award from a fellow blogger who liked my blog. The "Ancestor Approved" Award was created in March 2010 by Leslie Ann Ballou of Ancestors Live Here as a way to show how much she appreciates and enjoys "blogs full of tips and tricks as well as funny and heartwarming stories..." Recipients are to list ten things which surprised, humbled or enlightened them about their ancestors, before passing it on to ten other bloggers.

I am humbled and honored by the comments and supportive feed back I have rec'd on this simple blog.  Thank you!

 

THOSE WERE THE DAYS: Community Christmas Programs

It was the most exciting thing to happen to any kindergarten child.  Out of all of the kindergartens in my hometown of Wellington, Kansas, I was selected to be Mary, the mother of Jesus, in the community Christmas pageant put on in the High School auditorium (later this building was the Junior High).

I was giddy, I was excited, I was ready: it was the role of a lifetime, after all.  Being a star in the pageant I was able to bring friends along, so I chose my doll to be the babe Jesus.  My costume was crisp white cotton with a sky blue mantle.  I had no lines but I did have to look 'holy' and 'serene' - those were my stage directions.  I was shown pictures of Mary looking everything from sanctimonious to simply bored and had to craft the correct persona and attitude. My public would expect no less. Rehearsals took place with musical numbers by mixed choirs from schools across the community, band numbers from the high school and the tableau with background music of "Silent Night", "We Three Kings", "It Came Upon A Midnight Clear", and the like.

I had to be in place as the curtain rose, and the spotlight beamed down on me by the rough wooden manger, my doll playing his role to perfection, and myself.  There may have been a Joseph, wise men, and shepherds but I was focused on my task of sitting very still, with hands in a prayerful attitude and a serene look on my childish face.

As the curtain pulled back, the spotlight, warm and bright, hid the majority of the audience filling the large auditorium, I felt as if I had come home. This was the natural water for this little fish. Maybe this was why my family always called me a little "ham", a "showoff", and other terms not so memorable. I was a natural and soon I would be grown with a star on my bedroom door. 

I just knew it with the certainty only a kindergartner can know or understand. I knew this was the case, despite being later upstaged in the program by a fat man in a red suit and a fake beard.

Who Was Mary Mooney? DNA UPDATE

When I view this image I see many common facial features, the downward slant of the eyelids, the downward curve of the mouth in repose, and that strong line from the nose to the corner of the mouth which is more visible on one side than the other.   This is an ancestor but a woman of some mystery.  Mary Mooney is believed to be her name. The following has been shared and shared through the Brown researchers for many years as they sought to piece together that large family.     Yet, substantive proof of her identity is still lacking.

Once in America, Isaac joined a group of men who fought against the Indians. During a battle, he was shot and left to die. But a tribe of Indians, thought to be Cherokee, since he was in the Tennessee area, found him and brought him back to good health. While with the Indians, he fell in love with the Chief's daughter. Only name that is known for her is Mary. Some family believe her name to have been Mary Mooney. But during whose times, the white population did not believe in the marriage of white people to Indians, so no record was ever made of their marriage.

Census records prove the family lived in Davison County, Tennessee until 1849. The couples first ten children were born in Tennessee. Issac was a well educated, since he named his children from the Bible and history names. Then in 1849, Issac H. Brown went to Missouri with his wife, Mary, their nine children and one grandson. Isaac's first son, Ptolema had stayed in Tennessee at that time with his family, but in early 1859 Ptolema with his family settled in Missouri with his father. 
Their eleventh child, Marcius Brown was born in Rolla, Phelps County, Missouri. Reason are unknown why the family moved to Missouri, probably to find land like most did during those times.

Isaac and two of his sons, Lycurgus and Ptolema, bought 800 acres of land in Township 33, Range 9 and 10. It was in this area, that the Blooming Rose Post Office was first established. On July 25, 1856, Isaac H. Brown became the first post master for Blooming Rose, Missouri. Blooming Rose was in Texas County on the farm that he owned at the time. There was also a school in that area. 

In the fall of 1859, the Brown family sold the land of Licking. Ptolema went to Arkansas, Lycurgus went to Illinois, and Isaac and his other sons bought land in the north part of Texas County, Missouri. They owned land in both Texas and Phelps County.  The Civil War broke up the Brown family. The story has been told by neighbors that the Bushwhackers were so bad that Isaac buried his money in fruit jars in the apple orchard and left the country. Her later returned and the neighbors could see a lantern light in the orchard at night. They thought he was trying to find his money.  Source: Kerry S.

Those who believe her name to have been Mooney indicate she was born in 1810, TN and died in 1881 in Texas Co., Missouri.  Just who her father was and her back  ground are strangely absent.  With as many children as she had this is very striking that she did not share her family history with some of her descendants.  There are many 'if's associated with this line.  The original tale of her husband as a runaway apprentice who changed his name brings almost all that is known into question.  The chronology of the story could be slightly off and the Isaac of the tale the son of that other man, the runaway. Of the woman, Mary (whatever her name was)  so little is known. Her appearance does not suggest obvious Native American connections, however even at that early date there was evidence of intermarrying between European newcomers and  settled indigenous peoples.

Some have also suggested she was from a Melungeon line of the VA,TN, KY region bearing that name.  The lack of family information make this difficult to prove or disprove.  Until DNA tests are done, it will remain a mystery.  One theory of the Melungeon culture (at least part of the small but also diverse culture group) is that they are descendants of Portuguese sailors known to have been lost in the 1500's off the Virginia coast line.   Incidents off and on during the next 200 years provide some clues of their presence and intermarrying in the hills of VA, NC, KY, TN, etc.  They would tend to keep away from others because of the dominant racism of the time for the next 250 years. As a culture they are often identified less by dark looks than by a lack of family history, records, and a common but unprovable story of an "Indian" ancestor. DNA NOTE: A male child of a female descendant of this Brown family was tested for DNA and the Haplogroup identified for the female descendant was U5a1a1.  This would seem to preclude any Native American connections - as this is a European based group.  More DNA studies, however, using BROWN male descendants must be done to either completely prove or disprove this theory. 

Today, as many professionals are questioning even the use of the concept of race and as DNA is proving we were a lot more intermingled than we had often preferred to claim, the issue is being seriously addressed. DNA work is apparently supporting the genetic origin for self-identified Melungeons as matching a Native, North African/Mediterranean, and Portuguese/Romy background for many,

Her children were:

2. i. PTOLEMA PHILADEPHUS2 BROWN, b. August 30, 1829, Warren County, Tennessee; d. November 02, 1903, Soldier's Home in St. James, Phelps County, Missouri.

3. ii. JUAN FERNANDEZ BROWN, b. 1831, Davidson County, Tennessee; d. March 07, 1854, Texas County, Missouri.

4. iii. ARCHIMEDES BROWN, b. March 22, 1834, Warran County, Tennessee; d. March 14, 1863, the Civil War in Murfreesboro, Tennessee.

5. iv. SELTICANA BROWN, b. 1834, Tennessee.

v. LYCURGUS BROWN4, b. 1835, Warran County, Tennessee; d. May 22, 1887, Macoupin County, Illinois; m. MARTHA P. ARMOUR5, Abt. 1860, Missouri; b. 1840, Illinois.

Marriage Notes for LYCURGUS BROWN and MARTHA ARMOUR:

No children can be found from this marriage.

vi. METROBAR JAMES BROWN, b. 1840, Warren County, Tennesse; m. MARY BROWN; b. 1843, Tennessee.

6. vii. MARY A. BROWN, b. December 04, 1843; d. April 17, 1887, Texas County, Missouri.

viii. ELSINORA ODENSIA BROWN, b. February 21, 1845, Tennessee; d. March 1910, Piaza, Illinois; m. (1) KAYLOR; m. (2) THOMAS MCCOY, 1876, Illinois.

Notes for ELSINORA ODENSIA BROWN:  Elsinora brother, Marcellus Brown, is her twin.

More About ELSINORA ODENSIA BROWN:  Burial: March 1910, Medora Cemetery, Medora, Illinois

Marriage Notes for ELSINORA BROWN and THOMAS MCCOY:  After their marriage, Elsinora and Thomas traveled to Macoupin County, Illinois

7. ix. MARCELLUS BROWN, b. February 21, 1845, Tennessee; d. 1933, Macoupin County, Illinois.

x. FASCILINA BROWN, b. April 05, 1847, Warren County, Tennesse; d. April 03, 1885, at home in Vernon County, Missouri; m. REUBEN HIRAM MAIN, March 05, 1866, St. Louis, Missouri; b. Aft. 1840.

Notes for FASCILINA BROWN: Family decedents say that Fascilina Brown was killed when her team and wagon ran away. She was also thought to be pregnant at the time of her death.

8. xi. MARCIUS SABINUS BROWN, b. November 05, 1849, Rolla, Phelps County, Missouri; d. August 17, 1912, Calera, Bryan county, Oklahoma.

9. xii. LEONIDAS H. BROWN, b. 1853, Texas County, Missouri

The above was sent to me.   This research has been shared - in the way of much family history - over and over for nearly twenty years. The first of this information I remember seeing in the early 1990's from Missouri Brown researchers.  In the way of good research, it should be cited but in the way of good research it also needs to be investigatible and able to be duplicated.   Since so many people come together with their pieces of the puzzle the tradition is to share freely.

UPDATE NOTE:  A male child of a female descendant of this Brown family was tested for DNA and the Haplogroup identified for the female descendant was U5a1a1.