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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
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
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
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
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
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)
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
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)
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
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
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
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)
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
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
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
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I had promised to post this earlier when I had persmission from all
parties involved.
Jean Poythress
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To: ralevy(a)erols.com
Cc: jspille(a)bellatlantic.net
Date: Wed, 6 Jan 1999 12:37:36 -0600
Subject: Fw: [Fwd: Portuguese Settlement]
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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
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--------------95045335651--
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
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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
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Information
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