January 1999 - POYTHRESS

by Kenneth Larsen

The last two issues came through with only the heading and no body of information. Is this caused by you or at my end? Ken Larsen

20 years, 10 months

GA - Poythress'

by Debra Freeman

Bud, I talked with my Uncle Bill from Kansas City today - Sunday. He said he had heard as well that William E. had come from VA originally. I'm on a roll here. Thomas Boston and Julia Usher had four more children other than Sheddie and Ida, who died as infants. Thelma, Eva Mae (she's supposedly still alive - FL - I think he said), Jerry (?) and Thomas Ralph. Jerry had 4-5 kids. Charles - Jessop, GA, Geraldine, Jerry & Jackie (in ME- don't remember her last name). He remembers Bessie (Falligant) his g-aunt. Most of his family lives/lived in Screven and Effingham counties. That at least narrows it down for me if I was to go get birth, death, marriage certificates. Thomas Ralph & Verna Mae Bryant-Poythress had the following children. 1- Travis 2- William Arte (Kansas City) 3- Dallas 4- Celestine married an Ernest Mathis (Mathes?) lived/died in FL has a son Ernest Mathis as well. 5- Joanne died as an infant 6- John Robert my father 7- Julian last known to live in Seattle. I found a search engine against Social Security database on Ancestry.com. I found Dallas' name there. I might be able to find something else from his file. Heard that my 1/2 brother moved back out to CA from FL. Found out that Verna Mae's parents' names were John Bryant - NC and Beulah. Will have to see what that brings up in my searching. Do any of those names sound familiar to you? Thanks for all your help. Debbie

20 years, 10 months

????

by List user

Subj: Re: Martha J. Poythress (O'Neal) Date: 1/31/99 9:44:56 PM Eastern Standard Time From: rkautry(a)earthlink.net (Pat Autry) Reply-to: rkautry(a)earthlink.net To: VKRatliff(a)aol.com I am looking for the family of Martha J. Poythress who appears to have been from southern Virginia, most likely Brunswick County, or Greenville County. In 1906 when one of her daughters , Josephine O'Neal married Charles Thomas Johnson in Halifax County, NC, Martha was still alive & living in Emporia, Greenville county, VA; Martha's husband William O'Neal, was deceased. One family member has toold me that Martha came to the US from Ireland during one of the potato famines. I'm not sure if this was her alone or her family or her predecessors. There is some indication that Martha was married more than once and/or had a 1st child out of wedlock. I'm sending this to you because a Poythress listing by you, CNIDR Isearch-cgi 1.20.06 (File: 13), notes this and thought this might be related to my Martha: "4) William @39, Martha@28, Idella@12, Boston@10, William@8, Warren@6, Robert@4. I guess maybe we don't have a handle on all the rest. William is a stranger. Let's look at the dwelling numbers for a clue: " Can you tell me anything about Poythress in Brunswick or Greenville County, Virginia? Thanks, Pat

20 years, 10 months

Martha J. Poythress O'neal

by List user

See below. Can anyone help Pat with locating this lady? Thanks, Maynard >>> Subj: Re: Martha J. Poythress O'Neal Date: 1/31/99 9:14:18 PM Eastern Standard Time From: rkautry(a)earthlink.net (Pat Autry) Reply-to: rkautry(a)earthlink.net To: VKRatliff(a)aol.com I am looking for the birthdate and death date of Martha J. Poythress who married William O'Neal. I believe that she was from the Emporia, Greenville County, Virginia area as that is where she was living when one of her children, Josephine (Phenie) O'Neal, got married in 1906, to a Charles Thomas Johnson. I write to you because you rmessage indicates that there was a Martha in your family and thought that mine might be a descendant from your Martha. As I noted my Martha was alive in 1906 but her husband William O'Neal was not. Do you mine checking your line to see if you have a Martha J. Poythress who married a William O'Neal? This may not have been her first marriage. Thanks, Pat

20 years, 10 months

Thomas Boston Poythress, et al

by List user

Hey Bud, are all these folks you and Debbie Freeman talking about going to wind up as being descendents of Meredith Poythress, Jr. and first wife Hester Wilder Mock.......or are there some "independent" arrivals from Virginia..... or maybe do we have a "brother" or "uncle" in here. Specifically, Debbie mentions a William E. which raises the question of whether he might be the brother of Meredith Poythress, Sr. because we strongly suspect that "William" who registered for the 1805 land lottery (#967) right next to Meredith Sr. is a brother. Maynard

20 years, 10 months

Poythress tid-bits

by Teresa Willis

Hello All I have found out some interesting ,but not documented things in the last couple of days. I will start with my specific family and move on to other things. Lyn, answers to your correspondence of 1-30-99. First of all I do have a Family Tree Maker, it is Generations 4 Deluxe Edition by Sierra Home. I have talked to my uncle in Raleigh NC, and confirmed that Jack and Peter were brothers. My uncle is Delzie Theodoric Poythress born 1933. He said that Jack and Peter were both nick names for these two. And he believes that at one time they lived in the Brunswick area, but when he was little they had moved to Oxford NC this is in Granville Co near Henderson. He was not sure what their given names were, so this may be the Richard from your 1888 records. My uncle remembers them to live off of 158, down a long dirt road back in the woods. They did a little moonshine business together. That's why I asked about the moonshine kettle story you had about a Jack, but I assume that is about your Uncle Jack from Brodnax,( is that Frank's brother?) I think I have heard mention of Ollie also. Theodoric said that he remembers another uncle but he thinks that was one of Jack or Peter's sons and he could not think of a name. I also found the reference to Labon in the 1870 census (8months old) very possible he died. Are you aware of the 2 other children of Thomas and Lucy listed in the 1850 census a William 5 yrs. and a Francis 3yrs.? I did not, however find William in 1870 when he would have been 25, and more than likely he would have been married. Jean, I did speak to Bertha Poythress today about her bible, unfortunately when she found it it had fallen apart. She said there was nothing but the middle pages left. But she and my uncle I referred to earlier did remember a little about the "Portuguese" people and school. They were very reluctant to talk about this at first,especially Bertha. After I talked about it and asked a few questions she opened up. Her story and my Uncle's were basically the same. He incidentally lived in Roanoke Rapids NC in the 1950's. I assume that you are interested no matter what I have found out, and of course this is just what they heard from others their parents. So I hope no one is offended by this, I'm just passing info. The reason everyone is so secretive about this is because, from early ages they were more or less, for lack of a better word, brained-washed to be secretive. The families that these people came from were not in actuality "Portuguese" to Bertha and Theodoric's knowledge. They were families that had been "X-ed out" of the family. This is what we would consider disowning someone. They say that it really had nothing to do with their race or financial standings, it was something they had done. Bertha and Theodoric would not specifically say what they had done, but I assume it must have been illegal (maybe thieves). My aunt and uncle said that they were always told not to talk about or associated with any of "those old Portuguese". Uncle Theodoric says he remembers that my Grand-father Delzie did associate with some of them because he was a good old soul and liked everybody for themselves. The one he visited the most was a Benjamin Poythress(Bennie). My grand-mother always fussed at him for going to see him, but grand-daddy said that Bennie was a good man and he liked him. One other thing they thought was that some of the families made the "Portuguese" spell their last names differently. Well that's all I can tell, and if anyone feels this is not true please say so, I myself can't say for sure. Teresa, Toot(a)jnent.com

20 years, 10 months

RE:ROLL CALL

by List user

Hello All, I am answering the Roll Call and I am researching (or watching Jean do it) the same Poythess side as Jean. My husband's family are the Poythress's. Though Jean didn't mention it, my husbands surname is actually Porter. When his father came from NC to VA to live with relatives, it was changed from Poythress to Porter. I am usually silent unless come upon something to share. My line is: Charles Lee Porter b.1950 Robert Bailey Porter b. 1921 d. 1991 Claner Mason Poythess b. 1898 m. Dorah Jarrell b. 1902 Charles Poythress b. 1869 m. Rinia Jones Poythress b. 1872 Richard Poythress b. 1845 m. Ada Turner b. 1851 James W. Poythress b. 1796 m. Sarah Crowder James W. was brother to Luvel (Lovel) Poythess. Rinia Jones Poythess was daughter of Luvel Poythess. I am BGP, or Bruce Porter (female)

20 years, 10 months

Re: Twisdale and Dortch

by Sarah Poythress

Phyllis & BPW, Cemetery is very easy to find. Going from Ridgeway south on # 1 and #158 Hwy. Turn at Manson, NC to the right where it says To I-85. It is 1 mile or more on your left. It is in view of highway and pass exit to I-85. If you are looking at cemetery stright on the grave is on your right near the back under a tree. Barbara, most of my mother's people (Jackson, Breedlove , Ellington, Edwards, etc.) live in Middleburg. I will ask around and see if I can find the home place. My grandaddy's, brother's wife (my great aunt) is 99 years old. She may remember and may not as they lived in Henderson where he was the ABC Officer until his retirement. Was it called the Poythress' homeplace? Sarah

20 years, 10 months

Re: RE: Twisdale and Dortch

by List user

Do you have some information you could share on the family of William Archer Dortch and Sarah G. Poythress? David Poythress (1800-1876) married twice into the Dortch family. Could Sarah be his sister? Many thanks, Barbara (BPW)

20 years, 10 months

Roll Call

by Cliff Townsend

this is Sheryl Rowell Townsend e-mail: cctowns(a)thenett.com My Poythress connection is with: Mrs. Mary Poythress m. Capt. Robert Wynne with dau. Mary Wynne m. John Woodliffe (connection through her marriage) and also: Mary Poythress that m. a John Woodliff s/o Mary Wynne and John Woodliffe. (connection through blood line) On the Eppes I have a Norah m. George Woodliff (we have discussed this with no conclusion I believe) I believe my Woodliff / Wynne lines went from Henry Co. VA to Granville Co NC and some in Charles City & Jordans Church, VA. Further down the line they went to Forsyth Co and Hall Co.'s GA and from there to Etowah Co. AL I have the least to contribute on this line, but do wait for a connection to be made. Thanks, sheryl

20 years, 10 months

Roll Call

by Cliff Townsend

this is Sheryl Rowell Townsend e-mail: cctowns(a)thenett.com My Poythress connection is with: Mrs. Mary Poythress m. Capt. Robert Wynne with dau. Mary Wynne m. John Woodliffe (connection through her marriage) and also: Mary Poythress that m. a John Woodliff s/o Mary Wynne and John Woodliffe. (connection through blood line) On the Eppes I have a Norah m. George Woodliff (we have discussed this with no conclusion I believe) I believe my Woodliff / Wynne lines went from Henry Co. VA to Granville Co NC and some in Charles City & Jordans Church, VA. Further down the line they went to Forsyth Co and Hall Co.'s GA and from there to Etowah Co. AL I have the least to contribute on this line, but do wait for a connection to be made. Thanks, sheryl

20 years, 10 months

Archives

by Jean Spille

How do you access the Poythress listserve archives? Jean P.

20 years, 10 months

Re: Portuguese

by Jean Spille

Teresa, You are absolutely right and I am very interested in hearing more of the oral tradition in your family about marrying NA and the Portuguese school. The term 'portuguese' seems to have no basis in fact. All the surnames that are listed as 'portuguese' have been in the Southside Virginia and Northeastern North Carolina record books from very early on. They are enumerated on the first census as free persons of color or black. I will post some information on the "racial purity" laws in Virginia and W. Plecker's tenure as registrar of Vital Statistics in Virginia. Many NA went to other states to marry to avoid these laws. Jean P

20 years, 10 months

RE: Twisdale and Dortch

by List user

Sarah, You wrote: I found a couple of things a short while back that might interest you. In the Mount Zion Church Cemetery at Ridgeway, NC, grave of James H. Twisdale, 1813 - 1898. I figure he is to old to be Lucy Poythress' husband, so maybe his father. He was the only one buried there. I probably would not have found him had it not been for the lady in charge of the cemetery being there making a survey or something. Barbara I think she said you had written or called her about it. Can't remember now. Yes, this is James H. Twisdale, the father of Indiana Twisdale Poythress who is buried in Elmwood Cemetery there in Henderson next to her husband Charles David Poythress. The other thing; between Manson, NC and Drewy, NC is a cemetery. I was checking it out as my family (mother's side) is from Middleburg, NC. Some of her distant family is there. Part of the cemetery is fenced in and looking from the road, on the right side is a grave outside the fence under a tree. Name on marker is O.J. Dortch, 1846 -1929. Wrote it down at the time, because I thought it might mean something to the list. I go different places and make notes. Sometimes I get busy and forget to go back to them for awhile. That is what happened with this info. And this is fascinating Sarah, as I continue to search for information on the Dortch family. David Poythress, the father of Charles David married twice, first to Mary Speed Dortch, and secondly to Sally Dortch. And when Charles David died in 1892 his newspaper obituary read " The remains were brought on and interred at the old family homestead near Middleburg at 3:30 o'clock Sunday afternoon." But Charles David's family plot is in Elmwood. Lyn Baird's thought is that the family had him re interred after making their home in Henderson. Many thanks for bringing this to my attention. Barbara (BPW)

20 years, 10 months

Re: Research Priorities

by Charles Neal

Lyn, Appreciate your responses. I (sheepish admission) thought I had looked & not seen a FTM file, but upon receiving your message I tried again -- apparently tried the correct way today -- and found it. Yes, this one is quite sufficient for me to use to try to see how the program works. Thanks. Re:. . "part of the cemeteries project, I have just completed a "house-by-house" search of 1900, 1910 and 1920 covering the area roughly from Gasburg (Brunswick) to Palmer Springs (Mecklenburg) and from Meherrin River south to the North Carolina line - roughly 8 to 10 EDs depending on year. I have transcriptions of all findings in Excel and would be glad to share with you." Wow, I know from my experience of looking house-by-house in Sumter Co, AL how large a survey that was! It would be super to get a copy of your findings in Excel. (Remembering how much wrestling with the data I had in the Batte spreadsheet, in order to make it come out right, it occurs to me that if you are going to send it to me as an attachment, perhaps it would help if you also send me a text message about how many columns & rows I should expect to find <g> when I open it.) Appreciate your list of helpful features in the 1900-1920 censuses & your thoughts about them. And you can count on a reminder from me about getting results from your cemeteries research. :-)) Thanks, BPN

20 years, 10 months

Roll Call

by Pat Reagan

There are two reasons that I belong to this group . 1. I am interested in how te family dealt with the mixed marriage not to be nosey but interested. 2. I believe there is a connection between the line of Gilliams that I am researching but of course I am one sheet of paper away. Just for no reason I am looking for the parents of Susanna Gilliam born in 1790 Frederick County Virginia. Parents Unknown. She is living in Knox County Tennessee in 1800 with Spencer Gilliam son of Thomas Gilliam .But so far cannot prove he was her Father becouse she is not listed in either Spencer or Thomas's Gilllams will. Which brings up another name and that of course is Spencer. 3. This is the best news group arround especilly when it first came out and in the last couple of months. You have organazed your records and posted them in groups where every one has a chance . Some of the records are are hard to come by if you do not know where to look and all you have is a bunch of paper with the same years name and date and wrong person. Oh yes I am from the line of Poythress and Gilliam but that comes later and since I want to take one step at a time I collect study and learn from watching your groups work. No one person can work a line becouse some of the early work has proven incorrect in all families . Keep up the good work and when I get to the place I can help I will be there. Pat Graves Reagan

20 years, 10 months

Library of Virginia

by List user

Excepts from full page article from new issue of newsletter received today. Maynard DVB Offers Help for Genealogists ".....With the publication of volume one of the "Dictionary of Virginia Biography", previously held assumptions about some of the Old Dominion's premier families have been altered drastically, much has been revealed about persons who were little known and people about whom virtually nothing was known were brought to life....." ".....How can you use the DVB in your research efforts? Although individual volumes will not be indexed, the subjects and the principal business firms, schools, churches, societies and other organizations with which the subjects had significant association, as well as personal names are searchable in an online Editor's Index. This index will pull up a specific name whether it appears as a surname, maiden name, given name, or as part of a firm name. Go to this index by entering the URL: http://www.vsla.edu/public/dvb ....and then clicking on DVB Editor's Index. "At the end of each biography is a source note which contains those records used to compile the biography. Generally, the source for the birth of the individual is the first element of the source note while that of his death is last; variant dates are noted. In several instances, our research efforts resulted in our locating heretofore unknown family papers, copies of which were made available first to the project and then to the Library of Virginia.........Genealogists and researchers will find much new and valuable information in the first volume of the DVB. The source notes will direct the researcher to primary and secondary sources for continued research. Submitted by Daphne Gentry, assistant editor, Dictionary of Virginia Biography I went to the site and searched the editor's index for Poythress getting two hits: Atkinson, Agnes Poythress, 243 Jones, Agnes Poythress Atkinson, 244 My guess is that we didn't make volume one but a Mr. Atkinson did. Maynard Maynard

20 years, 10 months

[Fwd: Portuguese Settlement]]

by Jean Spille

This is a multi-part message in MIME format. --------------95045335651 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit I had promised to post this earlier when I had persmission from all parties involved. Jean Poythress --------------95045335651 Content-Type: message/rfc822 Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Content-Disposition: inline Received: from mail5.bellatlantic.net ([151.198.0.38]) by immta2.bellatlantic.net (InterMail v03.02.06 118 122) with ESMTP id <19990106192255.HXTH3437(a)mail5.bellatlantic.net> for <jspille(a)bellatlantic.net>; Wed, 6 Jan 1999 14:22:55 -0500 Received: from m10.boston.juno.com (m10.boston.juno.com [205.231.101.195]) by mail5.bellatlantic.net (8.8.5/8.8.5) with ESMTP id OAA04476 for <jspille(a)bellatlantic.net>; Wed, 6 Jan 1999 14:22:49 -0500 (EST) From: llbaird(a)juno.com Received: (from llbaird(a)juno.com) by m10.boston.juno.com (queuemail) id DYA67VY9; Wed, 06 Jan 1999 14:17:45 EST To: ralevy(a)erols.com Cc: jspille(a)bellatlantic.net Date: Wed, 6 Jan 1999 12:37:36 -0600 Subject: Fw: [Fwd: Portuguese Settlement] Message-ID: <19990106.131223.-38604857.0.llbaird(a)juno.com> X-Mailer: Juno 2.0.11 X-Juno-Line-Breaks: 2-3,17-18,20-21,24-25,29-30,33-34,37-240 X-Juno-Att: 0 MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Hello, David. As a member of the Poythress list I have just received this interesting information through our member Jean Poythress Spille. I am writing with a few questions relating to my GUY ancestors. In your message you write, 'Aside from the surnames you mentioned as being common to the "Portuguese" settlement, the other common community surnames were Jeffries, Stewart, Guy, Jones, Pompey, Dungee, Heathcock and a few others.' I am a thrice-great-grandson of George GUY (b. ca. 1818 Va.) and his wife Betsey (b. ca. 1812 Va.). In the 1850 census they are in Mecklenburg Co., Va. and are indicated "M" under race, which I understand signifies "mulatto". (In the county for 1850 there are five GUY households, one of which is classified black, the other four mulatto.) I have no other information on George or Betsey. I have later records of their daughter, Virginia, my twice-great-grandmother: her 1866 marriage to Thomas Morris, and their 1870 Mecklenburg and 1880 Brunswick census records. In the census records she, Thomas and the whole household are listed as white. I do not recall any indication of race in the marriage record. This leaves me with some questions on which your comments would be welcomed: 1) Because the 1850 census did not enumerate slaves, I am assuming my GUY family are free persons of color of some nature. Is this a good assumption? 2) In 1850 what could "mulatto" mean? Could it at that time only mean half-white, half-black? Or could it have broader meaning, such as mixed race in general? Typically how were the Portugese families categorized as to race in the 1850 census? 3) How between 1850 and 1870 could Virginia GUY have "lost" her mulatto race designation? Typically how were the Portugese families categorized as to race in the 1870 census? 4) What is known about the GUY family of the Greensville/Brunswick/Northampton Portugese community and could my GUY family be related? 5) Who are researching or have researched the Portugese GUYs? Thanks for your attention and any comments you might provide. Best regards, Lyn P. Baird llbaird(a)juno.com PS: Thank you, Jean, for sharing this with the Poythress list! --------- Forwarded message ---------- From: Jean Spille <jspille(a)bellatlantic.net> To: POYTHRESS-L(a)rootsweb.com Date: Tue, 05 Jan 1999 21:34:00 -0500 Subject: [Fwd: Portuguese Settlement] Maynard and the List, Thanks for connecting me with this gentleman. He has substantiated much of what I had long speculated about. Although, it is my line that goes directly back to this settlement, I suspect that others on the list will begin to build some connections. Many thanks, Jean Poythress Date: Mon, 04 Jan 1999 21:09:20 -0500 From: David Sciacchitano <ralevy(a)erols.com> Reply-To: ralevy(a)erols.com Organization: Richard Levy Law Offices To: Jean Spille <jspille(a)bellatlantic.net> Subject: Portuguese Settlement Many thanks for your e-mail. 1. The "Portuguese" settlement near Gaston is a remnant of a much larger community that once existed in the area that was centered in what is now Greensville County, and extending over into Brunswick. It developed in the early part of the 18th century, and began to disintegrate about the time of the Revolution and afterwards through emigration to other parts of the South and to the Midwest, so that by about 1850, there were only two remnants remaining, one being the Portuguese settlement, and the other called "Freetown" in Brunswick County along the line with Greensville southwest of Emporia. Freetown seems to have disappeared by 1900 or so. My primary interest is in the history of this larger community. Aside from the surnames you mentioned as being common to the "Portuguese" settlement, the other common community surnames were Jeffries, Stewart, Guy, Jones, Pompey, Dungee, Heathcock and a few others. While these surnames tend to be concentrated on one side of the border or another as a result of land ownership, it is pretty clear that it was one large settlement. The Heathcocks and Stewarts lived on both sides of the border from its earliest days, a number of the Scotts married up in Greensville County, and there are scattered references in Northampton records to people who lived mainly on the Virginia side. FYI: at one time there was a "Portuguese" school in Greensville County for the handful of "Portuguese" families that lived there. It was called Diamond Grove school, and appears to have been a former black school that was turned overto the Portuguese for schooling. I do not know how long it operated. 2. Turner is not necessarily a Nottoway name, although it is commonly thought to be, and there certainly were Nottoway who carried the surname. It does not occur among the Nottoway until a fairly late date, however, and as you know it was a very common name in the area among all groups, with several prominnet Turner families living in Greensville just across the state line. I have a deposition from a 19th century court case in Indiana pertaining to a Mary Turner who was born in 1810 in Northampton County near Gaston, just along the Greensville line in which she is described as mixed Indian and white and to have descended from "an old Indian settlement in the neighborhood". The Meherrin were not in that area after about 1680, and the Nottoway never were there in historic times, except for raiding parties. Any settlement referred to must have been Saponi, or a related community, as the Saponi occupied that area after the Treaties of Middle Plantation. Of course it is possible that Mary Turner's father (said to have been white) passed the Turner name to her, but in fact she appears to have been illegitimate, and Turner was probably her mother's name. But I think it is also possible that the Turner name moves east into the Nottoway from the Greensville/Northampton area. That is exactly what happend with another surname, Dungee or Dungill, which is only found in Brunswick at an early date (1730's) but by 1800 almost had disappeared from Brunswick and Greensville through emigration, but was increasingly common among some of the Powhatan communities in Eastern Virginia (particularly the Pamunky, among whom the Dungees intermarried). Ditto for the Stewart surname, which is one of the common surnames among Eastern Virginia's Indians today, but which did not enter those communities until about 1850, again probably from the Greensville/Northampton area. Please comment, as you have obviously looked at this long and hard. 3. The Poythress line is an interesting one and I know little about it. I know the names of the Hardiman, Odom and John Poythress, but little else. And of course I know that it was a fairly common and sometimes prominent surname in certain Virginia counties. I have the same impression as you do of the Poythresses who were in the Indian trade, i.e., that they probably had Indian wives as well as proper white wives back home. But to give you another possibility, one of the mixed people from the Greensville side, Charles Whitmore (born about 1765), who was illegitimate and who appears to have had an Indian father and a white mother, and not the other way around. It is possible that the Indian ancestry among the Poythresses in Northampton comes in that way. I have been told that the "Portuguese" Poythresses all descend from the three brothers you mentioned. Is that true? Do you have any idea as to their parents? 4. I would very much like to figure out the early Scott families in the area. Some of them moved to Sumter County South Carolina about the time of the Revolution, and I have several depositions on them, and on a family of Cornetts (also from Northampton) who moved with them, that were filed in South Carolina attesting to their Indian ancestry. These depositions date from the late 1700s to about 1860. But I have not found enough information on any of the Scotts to be able to put them together with their relatives and ancestors in Northampton into a single family grouping. It seems obvious that the Scotts who moved to Sumter were related to those who remained behind, but how they are related I do not know yet. (I believe, by the way, that the Scott family is another likely to have Saponi ancestry. The surname was one of the most common among the Catawba at a very early date, and the Saponi and Catawba were closely related politically and communally during the 18th century. It seems likely to have passed into the Saponi community in Brunswick from the Catawba, although it is always possible that it comes in through a different route.) 5. Another family of interest to me is that of the Heathcocks. They lived on both sides of the border, and at one time Heathcock was among the most common surnames among these people. A sizeable number of the Heathcocks served during the Revolution (ditto the Scotts, as you probably know), and all of them, as far as I can tell, on both sides of the stateline, emigrated after the War. By 1850, I think there was only one Heathcock family in the immediate area (Roland Heathcock) living in Greensville County. (But there were probably still one or two still living in Southampton County, Virginia as well.) You might find it interesting that there were some Heathcocks living in parts of the Deep South a hundred years later, including some who married among the Creeks in Alabama, who were still explaining their background as "Portuguese". That is one of several reasons that you can argue the "Portuguese" designation for your ancestors is quite a bit older than the stories one hears (stonemasons in the 1820's, etc.). The Heathcock family tree has been researched extensively by the late Douglas Hathcock, but I think there is still more to be learned, particularly in Northampton. For instance, Edward Heathcock, the original Heathcock on the Northampton side of the line, owned considerable land by the 1740s, but there is not record of a land patent or purchase by him. The record might be lost, of course, but another possibility is that he inherited through his wife. A study of land patents in the area might turn up the name of the original owner, and perhaps the surname of Edward Heathcock's wife, which at present remains unknown. The Heathcocks lived near Gaston along a creek called Arthur's creek in the 18th century. I have not been able to place this creek with any precision, and if you happen to know the modern name, I would appreciate your telling me. A probable brother named Joseph Heathcock owned considerable land just across the border in Brunswick. 6. Newsom is another name with which I am familiar, but which I have never researched to any extent. Likewise Artis and some of the other names that used to be common on the Northampton side of the border. I have assumed that these names have some connection to the Nottoway, as they appear to come down from Southampton County, but in that I could easily be wrong. 7. Bass, of course, is traceable to the Nansemond, as I am sure you know, although the Basses in Northampton cannot have had much Nansemond ancestry by 1800. Also, my recollection is that most of the Basses lived in other parts of the county, and not in the area of the Portuguese settlement. So as a family grouping they were not really a part of the Portuguese settlement, except for those who married into the community. But I could be wrong there, too. Matthews is a name I have never figured out. It is found after about 1800 in Mecklenberg County Virginia, and possibly earlier, among free colored people who appear to be of Indian descent. More than that I do not know, however. Have you seen the 1958 newspaper articles on the "Portuguese" community? I suppose you have copies of the legislation that officially designated the community as Portuguese? Let me know your different lines to see if I have anything that can be of help to you. How does James Poythress link to Hardiman, John, and Odom? I could list a number of other surnames of interest to me, in addition to those mentioned above. They include Hawkins, Toodle or Tootle, Norton, Lane, Dole or Doles, Peters or Peterson or Patterson, Hawley, Corbin, Burt, Norton, and a few others. If there is any common interest here, I will be happy to show you anything that I have. Sorry to be so windy, and thank you again for your response. David Sciacchitano ___________________________________________________________________ You don't need to buy Internet access to use free Internet e-mail. Get completely free e-mail from Juno at http://www.juno.com/getjuno.html or call Juno at (800) 654-JUNO [654-5866] --------------95045335651--

20 years, 10 months

Re: Research Priorities

by List user

BPN, comments and answers follow: 1) You are welcome to the cemeteries research information. When done I can compile and send you. Reminders are welcomed. 2) Great to hear you are canvassing the census across the South. What a monumental task! As a part of the cemeteries project, I have just completed a "house-by-house" search of 1900, 1910 and 1920 covering the area roughly from Gasburg (Brunswick) to Palmer Springs (Mecklenburg) and from Meherrin River south to the North Carolina line - roughly 8 to 10 EDs depending on year. I have transcriptions of all findings in Excel and would be glad to share with you. 3) In using Soundex to find people I knew must be there, results were spotty. For example, the spelling of James D. Poythress household in 1910 is "PORAS". I have not checked to see how this codes in Soundex, but the household was NOT indexed in the P362 range. This drove me to the house-by-house search. 4) Features in 1900 or 1910 I have found to be of special use follow (none of which I found in the 1920 census): a) Unique to 1900 is the recording of birth year and month. My gut feel is that people more accurately recall when they were born than how old they are. b) Both show number of years married. This, of course, is great for backtracking marriage records. c) Unique to 1910 is the recording of whether the marriage is a first, second, etc. marriage. d) Both show number of children total and number living OF THE WIFE. This helps identify deceased children and, in the case of a second marriage, children of the first marriage. e) The 1910 census has the unique feature of citing whether a person is a Civil War veteran - nice, but a little late to score many hits, at least for me. 5) Regarding interest in an FTM file for practice, were you aware there is an FTM 3.4 file on the floppy I gave you in November? If this is does not exactly fit the need, let me know. Best regards, Lyn P. Baird llbaird(a)juno.com ___________________________________________________________________ You don't need to buy Internet access to use free Internet e-mail. Get completely free e-mail from Juno at http://www.juno.com/getjuno.html or call Juno at (800) 654-JUNO [654-5866]

20 years, 10 months

Re: roll call

by List user

OK, Ruth, a fair response. Here's a different line of interrogation: Some time back I ran across citations regarding the 4 Dec 1830 death of former Virginia Governor William B. Giles, who was reported to have died at his residence in Amelia. Any ideas on the relationship between Governor Giles and our Edward Giles? Thanks in advance for your thoughts on this. On Fri, 29 Jan 1999 16:05:00 +0000 "Ruth O. Kauffman" <kauffman(a)acnet.net> writes: >Lyn, IŽd love to help everybody but I got my info about this family >from you people. I wrote Sarah with the idea of contacting the Nance >crew to see if they have a follow up on Edward Poythress and Mahala >Nance. They confirmed the name of EdwardŽs grandfather, Henry Edward >Giles, for me. ( You gave me the will of Edward Giles). IŽm a real >lurker, into everybodys mail list as I live out of the States and have >to depend on othersŽ research. You people are GOOD. Best mail list >yet!!! Keep it up! > >Ruth >kauffman(a)acnet.net > Best regards, Lyn P. Baird llbaird(a)juno.com ___________________________________________________________________ You don't need to buy Internet access to use free Internet e-mail. Get completely free e-mail from Juno at http://www.juno.com/getjuno.html or call Juno at (800) 654-JUNO [654-5866]

20 years, 10 months

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POYTHRESS January 1999