Long lost cousins

Several months ago I came across this blog written by Taneya, an African American woman who lives in Nashville. She was commenting on finding a marriage record for David Nunn and Mary Koonce.


David was a slave owner like many in North Carolina and had a slave, Solomon Koonce who was the ancestor of another African American researcher. David was also the first cousin of my ggg grandmother, Mary Nunn.

I have just started researching the Nunn family and only know about it because I found the death certificate for my gg grandmother and it listed her mother's maiden name.

I've helped on research for a couple African American families who lived in Florida for folks who found my email address on some genealogy web page and saw some surnames that matched theirs.

I have some difficulty in doing family research but for them it is many times more difficult due to the lack of records and also the lack of surnames. Slaves were listed only by sex and age up until 1870. Even after that since many of them could not read or write, their census record was not correct.

Many slaves took their surname from their owner and it may have changed. It has to be an amazing accomplishment to actually obtain some written documentation that would prove their ancestry.

Taneya is the administrator of several North Carolina and Tennessee County genealogy web pages so I am sure much of her time is spent doing research and locating valuable records that help others.

Family Veterans Day

My Dad was big into celebrating Veterans Day. He would always put up a flag, even if it meant taking down his FSU flag to do it.

Even though his military service spanned four decades he never was interested in the military clubs. He was a member of Veterans of Foreign Wars for a while but never went to meetings and never had time for the other groups.

He did want to make sure Veterans received their proper honor. He contributed money to the WWII Memorial early on and kept up with the progress as it was being built. He, like many of the WW II vets, didn't live long enough to see it completed.

Daddy sent in memorials for his brothers and himself to the WW II Registry. Considering he never used a computer and didn't even have a typewriter at that point in life this was quite an accomplishment.

After he died he received a special invitation to the opening of the WWII Memorial. I sent it to my sister Cathy, so she and her husband Tom could attend.

I've submitted WW II memorials for about a dozen family members. Some made it through the war and some didn't. If your family has WW II Veterans, you should make sure they are included in the WW II Memorial Registry.

Oliff family

My great grandmother was named Rebecca Oliff Hogan Green. Another relative in Perry, Florida was named Mary Oliff Kelly.

A common practice in the 1800s was to use the mother's family name as the middle name of children. I haven't been able to figure out how we are related to the Oliff family.

I wish I could solve this one since one of my favorite aunts is Freida Wilson, who was born Freida Oliff King. She married my great uncle Walt Wilson. Freida was named for her mother's family. It would be nice to find we are related to Freida by more than marriage.

Sunday School Ticket

Mary Warshaw, an artist and blogger from Beaufort, NC came across a Sunday school ticket, issued to Irvin Fulford in 1851. It was from Ann Street Methodist Church in Beaufort.

My wife and I visited this church the last time we were there, since it was across the street from the B&B we were staying at.

According to an old publication about the church history that Mary Warshaw found, the Sunday school ticket was given quarterly to such members of the Church as were recommended by a class leader with whom they had met at least 6 months on trial. Those without tickets were regarded as 'strangers.'

Back then strangers were not admitted to many of the church events.

I researched Irvin Fulford several years ago because I found battle reports he had issued during the Civil War.

He was the officer in charge of the artillery defense of Fort Fisher, located at Wilmington, NC. It was the only port on the Atlantic ocean still held by the South by December 1864.

The battle reports were published in 1893 and thanks to Google have been preserved

Irvin Fulford was born in Beaufort, North Carolina on March 31, 1839, the son of Absalom Fulford and Naomi Rumley. He enlisted in the CSA on April 23, 1861 as a private and eventually rose to the rank of Lieutenant.

His defense of Fort Fisher was successful but in an earlier defense of Fort Hatteras, NC on August 29, 1861 his position was overrun and he was captured and held as a POW along with 670 other troops who were at the fort.

He was paroled six months later and returned to Beaufort where he promptly re-enlisted.

He grave is in the Old Burying Ground cemetery, behind the Ann Street Methodist Church that issued him the Sunday school ticket. I took this photo of the marker while in town.

He got run over by a train

My grandfather's brother, John Henderson Green is buried next to my grandmother in the family plot in Perry, Florida. His grave marker is completely unreadable after 60 plus year of exposure to the elements. He died at age 36 in 1918. I am pretty sure the marker was put there in the 1940s since it matches those of my uncles who both died then.

It is made of concrete and I guess at the time it was thought to be a good idea but rain and the Florida sun coming down on it for all those years have polished it like river rock.

I wasn't even sure who was buried there until I located a census of the cemetery done by Jesse Paulk of Salem, Florida. He did the survey of Woodlawn Cemetery in the 1980s and I guess at the time he could make out the words.

When I found out who was buried there I tried to locate some information about him. I found him on a couple census records but nowhere else. He was always listed as single so I guess he never married. He wasn't listed in the WWI draft register and I couldn't find any land records in his name. I am pretty sure he was named after his grandfather, James Henderson Hogan.

The only place I found his name was in an interview done by my brother when he was talking to one my great aunts in the early 1980s. It just said "he got run over by a train."

Ben said the story was he was drunk and fell asleep on the track. I'm not sure if that was true but I guess it doesn't matter how you get hit by a train, the effect is the same. This photo of him was in my grandfathers papers. I expect it is the only one of him.

Lost and found

I received word this week from distant cousin Giles Willis, the marker for Richard Whitehurst is not actually on his grave. His home was at the end of Stewart Road where this cemetery is located. He was apparently buried near his home in a family cemetery in 1823.

Somehow over the years his grave location was lost and the marker ended up buried 3 feet under ground. When a developer was clearing land to build new houses in the area they found the marker along with one for Sarah Langdon Whitehurst. The two markers were placed in the family cemetery of John Burgess Whitehurst who was the son of Richard.

Oldest Ancestor

He didn't live to the oldest age but so far Col. Richard Whitehurst is the oldest ancestor I have located. At least to locate his grave in person.

While in Carteret County North Carolina for the 150th Anniversary event for the Cape Lookout Lighthouse this month we looked for and found the Whitehurst family cemetery on the Straits. Now it really wasn't lost but I had never seen in on prior trips to the area and the directions weren't real clear.

We drove to the end of Stewart Street without seeing it and only on the way back noticed the small concrete block wall. It looked like the beginning of a garage from the street.

Richard Whitehurst was born on July 12, 1766 and died October 15, 1823. I found a record showing he was appointed "Lieutenant Colonel Commandant" of the Carteret County militia on December 17, 1789. His son in law, Thomas Fulford succeeded him in this position.

He was married to Margaret Burgess and she is supposed to be buried in this cemetery but there is no marker for her.