Simmons family to the Mississippi Territory

Hot off the presses – I have spent the past few months researching Willis Simmons’s time in Georgia and his eventual move to the Mississippi Territory.  Along the way, I discovered my depth of knowledge about this topic was pretty shallow –  hence the need for several months!  Special thanks to cousin Allan Thomas for sharing some of his research with me!  Allan, it would have taken me a year without your help!  The setting of the story is the central Georgia frontier in the first decade of the 1800s.

My connection to Willis and Jane Simmons is interesting as both my paternal grandparents descended from Willis Simmons. That makes me “Double Silver Creek Simmons!”  Not an uncommon occurrence in rural areas over 100 years ago!

Please choose “Simmons family to Mississippi” from the blogroll on the right.  It will download as a pdf document.  When it opens, please choose the circle with the four corners so that you can view it slide by slide.  Use the page up/down keys to navigate through it.  ENJOY!

The Falkenburgs of the Shenandoah Valley

Yes, I know it has been a long time since a new blog article was posted.  I hope this new posting will make up for that.  Here is a little background.  This has been the most difficult topic I have ever researched and written including work done for my two graduate degrees, and it has taken 11 months.  What you will read is the heritage of every single Fortenberry, Falconberry, and Falkenberry (regardless of spelling) who can trace their ancestry to anyone of this name living in the South before the Civil War or Revolutionary War.   That is a lot of people!  I wanted this work to be contained in one document; consequently, it is very long (72 slides and 87 endnotes).  Feel free to print it and read at your leisure!  Take it to your Thanksgiving celebration and share it!  Let me know what you think!

The article, “Falkenburgs of the Shenandoah Valley,” can be found in the Blogroll list on the right.  When it opens as a PDF, locate a small symbol with arrows pointing in four directions.  Please choose this option to go to full screen per slide.  This will allow you to read a full slide at a time like in a PowerPoint using page up/page down or arrow keys.  Enjoy!

Fortenberry Buggy Ride circa 1902

Today’s blog post is a story derived from one photograph! Terry has always loved this photograph of  part of our grandfather Ferman’s family and wanted to share it with everyone.  It would have been taken in the Simmonsville area of Pike County, Mississippi.  Find the blog title shown above from the blogroll on the right.   Grab your hat and enjoy the ride!  

 

Mae’s Special Quilt

Beginning this article a couple of months ago, I thought would be pretty straight forward.  Boy, was I wrong!  It has been slow going!   I know that the volume of names and dates may make for tough reading but I felt compelled to “make the connections.”  This story has been written for a much larger audience than my immediate family and I wanted to make the connections clear so that other branches of other families could find their connection to the quilt too!  Please let me know if you find errors.  I was dealing with a lot of people and dates and some are likely to be wrong.  Contact me if you see an error.  These surnames are especially well represented in the quilt – FORTENBERRY, SIMMONS, ALFORD, ELLZEY, and SCHILLING.  Choose “Mae’s Special Quilt” from the blogroll on the right.  It is a PDF and can be viewed as a PowerPoint from full screen using the page up and page down keys.

Enjoy! 

Granny Fortenberry

Today’s story is about Granny Fortenberry.  She was the wife of Ferman Esco Fortenberry and the mother of six wonderful men, among them, my father Adrian Fortenberry.  This one is written especially for the 25 of us that are Fortenberry first cousins.  I have kept this one as a Power Point so if you would like to copy some of the pictures, it would be easier to do than with a PDF.  Please choose Granny Fortenberry from the blogroll to the right.

An Adventure in Mississippi

While in Mississippi a few weeks ago, Reggie, Terry, Barbara, and I had an opportunity to meet lots of new cousins!  While there, we visited several cemeteries so that we would have some digital images of them.  One of our newly discovered cousins, Paulette Pigott Stogner helped us locate a very old cemetery referred to as the Magee Cemetery.  Our 3X and 4X great grandparents are buried there.  Please read about our adventure!  Choose “Adventure in the Magee Cemetery” from the blogroll and enjoy!  Because it is a PDF file, for best viewing after loading the document, please use the page up and page down keys located above/near the number pad.

 

Off To Mississippi

Reggie, Terry, Barbara, and I are heading to Mississippi tomorrow.  We are going to have a wonderful time!  There are several cemeteries we would like to visit, new cousins we will be meeting, and a Pike County Bicentennial Celebration to attend.   I haven’t been to Mississippi since 1984!

Photo taken by Daddy on a visit in the late 1970s of Progress High School.

Adding new discoveries to old articles!

After finding new photos and information, I have recently updated two of the early blog articles I had written about Daddy’s first two years in the Navy.  I think you will really enjoy the new additions.  Please choose Navy 1 Adrian joins the Navy and Navy 2 USS Helena Shakedown Cruise from the blogroll.  (Yes, I know I have stopped at 1944 on his Navy story.  I promise I will finish!)    Enjoy!

Today’s blog article is about a rifle barrel currently in the posession of Regina Fortenberry Cross.  One day while showing it to me I began to wonder about it.  What kind of gun was it from?  How old was it?  Who was the original owner?  As it turned out, the barrel actually had a lot to say!  I really did not expect to write an article about it, but here it is.  From the blogroll on the right, please choose “Rifle Barrel from the Past” and enjoy!

Society of Mayflower Descendants

Terry has recently completed the process of becoming a member of the Society of Mayflower Descendants.  This group is open to people with a direct line to someone that arrived on the Mayflower in 1620.  In this case, direct line does not mean an ancestor with the same last name (ie: Fortenberry/Van Valkenburg), but anyone who would be your grandparent many generations back.  For Adrian and Wanda’s grandchildren, our Mayflower ancestor would be your great, great, great, great, great, great, great, great, great, great, great grandfather.  Yes, that is 11 greats!  The genealogical shorthand for that would be 11X grandfather.  Please choose “Society of Mayflower Descendants” from the blogroll and enjoy.  Maybe you would be interested in joining. Terry has done all the work that would make it easier for other descendants of Mae and Ferman Fortenberry to join!  Her article even explains the process you would follow.  The society even awards scholarship money!