Wisteria

 On the 18 th day of July 1810, Samuel Watts Sr. of Halifax County, Virginia “for consideration of the natural love and goodwill which he hath for his daughter Polly Shaw at present the wife of Joseph Shaw as also all the children she may have” conveyed slaves he owned to James Eastham and John T. Palmer. These slaves were described as: "a woman named Nancy, a girl named Beckey, a girl named Jane and a boy named Burwell together with their future increase." In the deed, Samuel first reserved the use of those slaves so long as he lived and directed that after his death Eastham and Palmer were to dispose of said slaves for the use and benefit of Polly Shaw and her children. At her death, Eastham and Palmer were authorized to “deliver up such of the aforesaid slaves as may be then remaining in their possession together with their increase and to divide the same equally among all the children of the aforesaid Polly Shaw and their heirs begotten of their body.” This was recorded...

I am perusing through old photographs from my paternal grandparents side these days. In essence, I have been visiting Kentucky although really only in my mind. Things like this come and go in spurts. I have not looked at the research I have done on these lines in a number of years but every now and them something draws me back. What pulled me this time was an email from a gentleman who saw a photograph on my blog that was taken by Randolph in Cadiz, Kentucky (see the photo here ). This gentleman informed me that he and another local historian were doing research on this photographer who did work in Cadiz from about 1893 to 1913. He wanted to know if I would share an electronic copy of the photograph and also asked if I had anymore photographs taken by Randolph. I hunted around and found one more. This is a photograph identified by my grandfather as "My daddy's first cousin [John Willis Watts], Otis Moorefield." Otis Moorefield (1875-1958) Until I put the two tog...

As I continue to look through these chancery court records available for Halifax County, Virginia, I am finding wonderful tidbits of information that help provide a clearer picture of the lives of those who lived there so long ago, especially for women who so often did not have a voice in any extant records. Since it is women's history month, I thought to highlight what I recently found out about a collateral ancestor of mine: Image from ushistoryimages.com Sally Burchett was married to Samuel Watts Jr. who was born around the year 1767. Their first child was born about 1785. Samuel Watts Jr. died in 1805 and Sally was administratix of his estate. In 1812 she married James Mayne. A marriage bond was dated April 3, 1812 and five days later on April 8, the two had an agreement recorded wherein they “agreed to be joined together as man and wife” and said Mayne “wished to claim none of the property belonging to said estate but at her death go to her children.” These actions ...

I mention in my Watts book that the search for the parents of my ancestor Lindsey Watts led to research on all the Watts families that lived in Halifax County and became the basis for that publication. Since around 1989 when I started researching, I have not been able to find any record that directly names Lindsey as the son of Thomas M. Watts and his wife Sarah “Sally” Overton but all evidence points to that conclusion. I believe I have done a reasonably exhaustive search over the years to develop this assertion. So after all these years have I finally found such a record? Well... maybe. Let me first provide here my bare-bones narrative on the family of Thomas M. Watts and Sarah “Sally” Overton his wife from the latest edition of my book. (You can contact me or check the book for the source citations.) Thomas M. Watts , son of Samuel Watts Sr., was born around the year 1765 and died between May and September of 1819 in Halifax County, Virginia. He was married to S...

I am going through some photographs that originally belonged to my paternal grandparents. These two that I post I have been unable to identify. They are both RPPCs (Real Photo Post Cards) and have an Azo stamp box on the reverse with 4 triangles facing up. This identifies them as having been taken between 1904-1918 according to Playle's Guide to Real Photo Post Cards . The one of the three children has "Ruby and Amie" written in pencil on the back by an unknown hand. Ruby (born in 1898) and Amy (born in 1902) were my great-aunt and grandmother, daughters of William Lewis Hardy and his wife Alice Samantha Lovelace. I am guessing that we might be able to narrow it down to about 1917 or before. I base this on the fact that Ruby married and had her first son by December of 1917 (Amy married in September of 1918). I am supposing that it is a probability that the postcard was given to both of them when they were both single. During the 1910 federal census, Ruby and Amy alon...