2020 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks: Week 8: "Prosperity" - John Blackleach and Elizabeth Bacon

Week 8's theme of "Prosperity" immediately brought to mind my 12th-great-grandparents, John Blackleach and Elizabeth Bacon Blackleach. John and Elizabeth have been a source of great fascination to me for a few years now; while Elizabeth was the daughter of a wealthy mariner and was raised in considerable comfort, John was very much a self-made man. He took after his father-in-law in becoming a mariner, and became very wealthy in his own right. But John and Elizabeth's prosperity did not always do them any favors, and in fact got them into one situation that could have potentially been quite serious.

St. John's Church, Wapping, London.

John Blackleach and Elizabeth Bacon were married on 30 September 1623, in St. John's Church in the neighborhood of Wapping, in London. They lived in London for about ten years after their marriage, and their first three children - Elizabeth (1), John, and Marie - were born in London. In 1634 the family immigrated to the New World, and settled first at Salem, Massachusetts. They went on to have nine more children: Desire, Exercise, Joseph, Elizabeth (2), Benoni, Elizabeth (3), Solomon (1), Solomon (2), and Mary.

The nature of John's mercantile work meant that the family was frequently moving. From Salem they moved to Boston, and afterword lived in several towns in Connecticut, including New Haven, Hartford, Stratford, and finally Wethersfield, where he passed away on 23 August 1683. John also traveled frequently to London and to the West Indies on business, often accompanied by his son, John Jr. Two of John Sr.'s other sons, Benoni and Solomon, were also fond of travels on the high seas; but according to Julius Gay's Farmington Papers (privately printed, 1929), unlike their father, their "business trips" often earned them such titles as as "privateer," "pirate," and "pretender."

John Winthrop the Elder

In addition to being a good businessman, John was also a very adamant philanthropist and Puritan reformist. He wrote several treatises and pamphlets on the subject of religion, including one that was read by John Winthrop the Elder (which has unfortunately been lost), and a defense of Republican government entitled Endeavors Aiming at the Glory of God, printed by John Macock in January of 1650. John was actually imprisoned in June of 1634 for "unorthodox religious practices," which I'm sure explains his subsequent immigration to the New World. Religion remained an important part of John's life - so much so that he actually became a missionary to the Native Americans, both in New England and in the West Indies. In 1671 he took a missionary voyage to Jamaica, and wrote to John Winthrop the Younger of the challenges that he faced there, saying:

"I could patiently have born, and waited for deliverance, and not have come to this place, but I believed I might please God in this voyage; the whole need not a physician; Christ came to call sinners to repentance."

John's wealth, influence, and well-known philanthropy made him such friends as John Winthrop the Elder (also my 12th-great-grandfather, but in another line), founder of the Massachusetts Bay Colony; John Winthrop the Younger, Colonial Governor of Connecticut; and the Reverends John Cotton and Increase Mather, incredibly influential religious leaders. These friends in high places allowed John to become an influential colonist in his own right. And it was this influence, bought at a steep price with his prosperity, that might well have saved his life in 1662.

An artist's depiction of the Katherine
Harrison trial.

Everyone knows about the Salem witchcraft trials of 1692, but few people realize that the witch hysteria in the Colonies began nearly 50 years earlier in Wethersfield, CT. Between 1648 and 1668, Wethersfield had nine documented accusations of witchcraft, three of which ended in execution. This seems like peanuts compared to the 200 accusations and 20 executions of Salem in 1692, but considering that there were only 43 documented accusations of witchcraft recorded in the 150-year history of Colonial Connecticut, 16 is a significant percentage to come from one small town.

In 1662 there were two "diabolical possessions" of Wethersfield residents that resulted in the first widespread witch panic in New England history (to read more about this witch panic, see this article). John and Elizabeth were both accused of witchcraft during this year, but it is not clear who accused them or why. Fortunately for them, accusations were as far as it ever went. They were never formally charged with witchcraft, and in fact they went on to bring slander suits against several people in the community the following year. It was undoubtedly John's wealth, influence, and reputation for piety that saved them, when so many others did not have the same defenses at their disposal. One of these unfortunate souls, Katherine Harrison, was actually accused of witchcraft by John and Elizabeth (among many others) six years later. Katherine found guilty, very narrowly escaped execution, and was exiled to the Colony of New York. It is difficult for us to understand through a 21st-century lens why they would do such a thing when they themselves knew firsthand how dangerous it was to be accused of witchcraft; but it was a very different time from ours, and a difficult one to live in. People are sometimes pushed to do crazy things in the face of widespread panic.

It is clear that prosperity was a double-edged sword for John and Elizabeth Blackleach: it brought them material comfort and influence within their community, but it also could have ruined their lives on more than one occasion.

~ ~ ~

My descent from John and Elizabeth Blackleach is as follows:

John Blackleach 1600-1683
12th great-grandfather

John Blackleach 1626-1703
Son of John Blackleach

Elizabeth Blackleach 1659-1710
Daughter of John Blackleach

Mary Harris 1689-1746
Daughter of Elizabeth Blackleach

William Walter 1717-1796
Son of Mary Harris

William Walter 1744-1793
Son of William Walter

Clark Walter 1767-1854
Son of William Walter

Medad Walter 1790-1865
Son of Clark Walter

Jay Clark Walter 1831-1909
Son of Medad Walter

Amzi Walter 1861-1920
Son of Jay Clark Walter

Mary Ellen Walter 1888-1952
Daughter of Amzi Walter

Clara May Schofield 1906-1989
Daughter of Mary Ellen Walter

Arthur Ray "Jack" Quinn 1939-1986
Son of Clara May Schofield

Lora Marlene Quinn 1961-
Daughter of Arthur Ray "Jack" Quinn

Allison Quinn Kessinger
You are the daughter of Lora Marlene Quinn

2020 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks: Week 7: "Favorite Discovery" - William Hudson and Elizabeth Cheek

Asking a genealogist to write about a "favorite discovery" is a lot like asking a musician to name their favorite song - there are far too many to choose from! The subjects of Week 7's theme are definitely among my favorite discoveries, but I chose this particular couple because 1) it took me forever to find them and I am very proud of the fact that I eventually did, and 2) hopefully describing how I found them will help someone else to break down a brick wall.

Joseph P. Hudson, my great-grandfather.

For many years my 3rd-great-grandfather, Vincent Hudson (1805-1880), was a total brick wall. I had heard several family members (including my grandmother, who was born Edna Josephine Hudson) say that the Hudson family was Native American. For a long time I assumed that this was the reason for the brick wall, and didn't devote a whole lot of time to breaking it down. But when mine and my father's DNA results came back, it showed that my father only had about 1% Native American DNA. If the stories about Mamaw Edna's father, Joseph Hudson, being half Native American were true, the percentage should have been much higher. I was able to track down a cousin of my father's who had the Hudson surname, and extracted the most likely Y-DNA group numbers from his DNA results. The Y-DNA revealed that our Hudson line originated in Northern Europe, meaning that if the 1% of Native American DNA in my father's results did indeed originate from the Hudson side, it had to have been from one of the wives' lines and not from the Hudson line itself.

I started looking into records pertaining to Vincent Hudson. I finally found the names of his parents on the record of his second marriage, to Hester Rupel: "William and Elizabeth Hudson". As you can imagine, the name Hudson is a fairly common one, so there were many Williams and Elizabeths who were potential candidates for Vincent's parents.

I realized at this point that I would probably never be able go back any further than William and Elizabeth using traditional research methods, so I turned to DNA results to help me fill in the blanks. After painstakingly searching through dozens of matches with the surname of Hudson in their trees, I found that many of those matches descended from David Hudson (1728 -1811) and Keziah Plunkett Hudson (1732-1807). David and Keziah's family had already been well-researched and well-documented, so it was easy to find that they did indeed have a son named William Hudson, who married Elizabeth Cheek. In all of the published information that I found about David and Keziah's family, there was no mention of William and Elizabeth after their marriage.

I added David and Keziah as William Hudson's parents in my tree, so that the Ancestry algorithms could work their magic and hopefully reveal more matches that descended from this couple. It worked, and I soon found matches that descended from ancestors of this couple as well. It was solid evidence, but not yet conclusive.

When Ancestry came out with their ThruLines feature, it made finding other descendants of David and Keziah (as well as their ancestors) much easier. But when I saw one day that I had a Potential Ancestor hint on ThruLines to William Cheek and Elizabeth Lindel Cheek, it confirmed my theory, as far as I was concerned. All of the published research that I had found on David Hudson's family had never mentioned the name of Elizabeth Cheek Hudson's father. The fact that a William Cheek had turned up in my potential ancestors, with DNA matches descending from four of his other children, could not be a coincidence. 

This DNA evidence, combined with the traditional research, proved beyond a reasonable doubt that the William and Elizabeth Hudson who were recorded as Vincent Hudson's parents on his second marriage record were William Hudson, son of David and Keziah Plunkett, and Elizabeth Cheek, daughter of William Cheek and Elizabeth Lindel.

~ ~ ~

My descent from David and Keziah Plunkett Hudson is as follows:

David Hudson 1728-1811

5th great-grandfather

William Hudson 1750-1811

Son of David Hudson

Vincent Hudson 1805-1880

Son of William Hudson

Joseph Patterson Hudson 1839-1914

Son of Vincent Hudson

Joseph P. Hudson 1881-1954

Son of Joseph Patterson Hudson

Edna Josephine Hudson 1921-2011

Daughter of Joseph P. Hudson

Joseph Wayne Kessinger 1958-

Son of Edna Josephine Hudson

Allison Quinn Kessinger

You are the daughter of Joseph Wayne Kessinger

2020 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks: Week 6: "Same Name" - Allie Violet Kessinger Clay

  

Allie Violet Kessinger

I couldn't think of a more perfect perfect person to feature for the "same name" theme than my Aunt Allie, who is the person that I am named after. The story goes that my parents were originally going to name me Allie, but when they told Aunt Allie of their plans she said "Don't name her Allie. Name her Allison, and call her Allie. That way she will have a 'grown up' name when she is older."

Aunt Allie was actually my great-aunt: my paternal grandfather's oldest sister. Allie Violet Kessinger was born on Monday, January 1, 1900, to Clifton Kessinger and Ella May Lovejoy Kessinger. She often remarked that she was born "on the first day of the week, the first day of the month, the first day of the year, and the first day of the century." She was actually the second of Clifton and Ella's 15 children, as her older sister, Virgie Violet, had passed away about a year and a half earlier at age 2 months.

Allie married William Henry Clay on May 6, 1922. The family photo that was taken on their wedding day is the only known photo of the entire family. Unfortunately Clifton and Ella's 14th child, Juanita Ruth, passed away a few days after the wedding due to injuries sustained in a fire.

The Kessinger Family on May 6, 1922: Allie Violet Kessinger's wedding day.

Allie and William went on to have one child: William Harold Clay. William Harold had 6 children, who in turn had numerous children and grandchildren.

Allie passed away on December 4, 1994: less than a month shy of her 95th birthday. She left behind a legacy of being a strong woman who was afraid of nothing, who fiercely loved her family, and of being someone who could always be looked up to.

It would take ages to write down all of the stories that I have heard about Aunt Allie, but I will recount my favorite one here. Aunt Allie, William Harold, and a few others had gone camping out in the woods. Aunt Allie was already on the verge of being "elderly" at this point, but she was an avid outdoorswoman who loved to go camping and hunting. Long after everyone had gone to sleep, a commotion was heard outside their tents. When they looked outside, they saw Aunt Allie in a long flannel nightgown, swatting a bear on the behind with a broom. William Harold looked on in shock and alarm and finally said "Mom, get away from that bear! He's going to eat you!" Aunt Allie calmly replied, "He's not going to eat me, but he'll eat all of our food if I don't chase him out of here." And she finally did get the bear to leave, without having taken any of their food.

If any of Allie's grandchildren have stories that they would like to share, please let me know and I will add them here!

2020 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks: Week 5: "So Far Away" - George Schofield and Mary Dotson

In last week's #52Ancestors post, I told you about the grandparents and great-grandparents that I had close to home; in one case, they were right next door! Most of my ancestors stayed within a 200-mile radius of my hometown of Charleston, West Virginia after immigrating to the US, but the subjects of this week's "So Far Away" themed post ended up living 2,245 miles (yes, you read that right: two thousand, two hundred forty-five miles) from Charleston: Baker City, Oregon.

George and Mary Schofield, C. 1893.
Taken in Stanberry, MO.

George Elliot Schofield and Mary Frances Dotson Schofield, my third-great-grandparents, were pioneers who traveled the famous Oregon Trail in search of owning their own land and building a new life. George and Mary are what I like to call "recently acquired ancestors," meaning that I only recently found out that I am descended from them. The story of how I found that their son, Joseph Elliot Schofield, was my Grandma Quinn's father was the topic of my very first blog post, and my inspiration for founding the Rooted Heritage Genealogy blog.

George was born on 10 October 1837 in Green County, Tennessee, to Daniel and Elizabeth Olinger Schofield. Not many details or records survive from George's childhood and young adult years, but we pick up the trail again in Laclede County, Missouri on 14 September 1871, when George married Mary Frances Dotson, daughter of James Monroe Dotson and Mary Polly Sims. Mary was born on 20 July 1853 in Tennessee, but her family was living in Laclede Co., MO before her 7th birthday.

When we next hear of the Schofield family in the 1880 census, they are living in Wise County, Texas. This means that they would have made a trip of about 525 miles southwest, through the entire length of Oklahoma and into northern Texas, taking approximately 2-3 weeks. They now have 4 children: James and Martha, who were born in Missouri, and Eugenia and George Jr., who were born in Texas.

Traditional route of the Oregon Trail.

It is impossible to know exactly where they were in 1890 due to the lack of 1890 census records, but when we see them again in the 1900 census they are living on their homestead in the Macham district of Malheur County, Oregon. We cannot know exactly when they made the move to Oregon or how long it took them to get there, but the birthplaces of their children provide us with some clues. In 1900 the children living with George and Mary were George Jr., 20, born in Texas; Ruth, 15, and Joseph, 14, born in Arkansas; Oliver, 10, and Florence, 7, born in Colorado, and finally Gilbert, 2, born in Oregon. This would mean that they had to be in Arkansas by 1885, in Colorado by 1890, and in Oregon by 1898. The most difficult part of the journey would undoubtedly have been the part between Colorado and Oregon, since this is where they would have had to cross the rough terrain of the Rocky Mountains. The good news is that the Schofield family would have been one of the last to use the original trail, so by the time they made the trip there were well-built roads and frequent stopping points for most of the journey.

Homestead house of George and Mary Schofield in Oregon,
with several of their descendants in the yard.

On 25 November 1902, the track of land in Malheur County, Oregon was officially patented to George Schofield by the United States Government. It would appear that they did not stay there long, however. In 1910 the Schofields were living in Wallowa County, Oregon, and in 1920 they had finally settled in Baker City, Oregon. George passed away on 16 January 1920, and Mary followed nearly five years later on Christmas Eve of 1924.

I've only known that George and Mary are my ancestors for about two and a half years, so unfortunately I never got to hear stories from older relatives about the many adventures of Grandpa George and Grandma Mary, and why they always seemed to have a bit of wanderlust in their blood. Why did they move so frequently? Were they trying to acquire land that was less expensive, or more fertile? Did they like the excitement of picking up and starting over again? Could they just never find a place that felt like home? We may never know for sure. However, I think it's safe to say for them, the journey was always more exciting than the destination.

~ ~ ~

My descent from George and Mary Dotson Schofield is as follows:

George E. Schofield 1837-1920
3rd great-grandfather

Joseph Elliot Schofield 1887-1951
Son of George E. Schofield

Clara May Schofield 1906-1989
Daughter of Joseph Elliot Schofield

Arthur Ray "Jack" Quinn 1939-1986
Son of Clara May Schofield

Lora M. Quinn 1961-
Daughter of Arthur Ray "Jack" Quinn

Allison Quinn Kessinger
You are the daughter of Lora M. Quinn

2020 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks: Week 4: "Close to Home" - My Grandparents and Great-Grandparents

Amy Johnson Crow, the creator of the 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks challenge, is always saying something along the lines of "Don't forget to write about yourself! You are a part of your family history!" So this week's post is partly about me, but it is mostly about the members of my family tree that were close to my home: my paternal grandparents, Harold and Edna Hudson Kessinger; my maternal grandparents, Charles and Phyllis Hunt Holmes; and my mother's maternal grandparents, Zack and Madge Moore Hunt.

Harold and Edna Kessinger

You couldn't get closer to home than my paternal grandparents - in fact, they lived right next door! My grandfather, Harold Kessinger, spent most of his career as a life insurance salesman with Life of Virginia Insurance Company, and my grandmother, Edna Hudson Kessinger, was a homemaker. By the time I came along, Papaw had long since retired. They sang Southern gospel music as The Co-Pilot Quartet with my mom and dad, and were active in our church. Having my grandparents so very close to home was a great blessing (with only a few challenges that any family would face). I have many wonderful memories of Sunday dinners, playing outside, summer trips, and holidays with them. And as much as we like to joke that having them right next door made us like the Barone family from the TV show Everybody Loves Raymond, I realize as an adult that I was blessed to spend so much time with them. Many people never even get to meet their grandparents, so when you look at it from that perspective, it truly was a blessing. They passed away only six months apart from one another - Mamaw Edna in December of 2011, and Papaw Harold in June of 2012.

Charles and Phyllis Holmes

My mother's parents, Charles and Phyllis Hunt Holmes, lived only about ten miles away, in the neighboring town of Elkview. Mom's "original father" (as I always called him), Arthur Ray "Jack" Quinn, passed away before I was born; but as Monna (a name of my own invention for my grandmother) married Papaw Chuck before I was born, he has always been my grandfather as far as I am concerned. Papaw was a civil engineer for the State of West Virginia and later with Majeski and Masters Engineering Firm, his most famous project being the famous New River Gorge Bridge. Monna also had a long career with the State of West Virginia, her last position being Deputy Transportation Secretary. Despite their active work schedules, they always made time to spend time with us. I have many wonderful memories of everything from family reunions to ball games to camping with them. They moved to Florida last year, but they still come home frequently to see us and their church family, among whom they have several dear friends. I often joke that they have a more active social life than I do.

Zack and Madge Hunt.

I was also blessed to know one set of great-grandparents - my mother's maternal grandparents, Ernest Zacharias "Zack" and Madaline Eva "Madge" Moore Hunt. They lived about eight miles away, in the neighboring town of Belle. The house that they lived in was built by my great-grandfather for my great-grandmother. I can still remember the day that Papaw told us the story; he said that he asked Mamaw to marry him, and then asked when they would get married. She said she wanted to get married on the 4th of July, because "it sounded like a long way away." That very day, Papaw went home, got ahold of some lumber, and started building a house next door to where he lived with his father. Stories like this only scratch the surface of the wonderful memories that I have with them. Papaw Zack worked for Dupont for most of his career, and was an operating engineer. He was also the long-time pastor of United Christian Church in Belle. Mamaw was a homemaker, and a caretaker of just about anyone who needed caring for. Papaw and I were a lot alike, and were very close. We went on all sorts of adventures together, and had the best discussions. He passed away in September of 2008, and his passing was one of the hardest things I have ever been through. Mamaw lived another nine years, and passed away in March of 2017.

The small glimpse that I have given of all of my grandparents barely touches the surface of the blessings that having them so close to home gave me. I know so many of my students who have lost one or both of their parents; so for me to have had not only both of my parents, but all my grandparents and a set of great-grandparents was an incredible blessing indeed. I plan to write more about all of them throughout the course of this year.

2020 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks: Week 3: "Long Line" - The Leftwich Family

Week 3's theme of "Long Line" immediately brought to mind the longest unbroken line in my family with the same last name - the Leftwich family. Ironically, this line was a brick wall beyond my fourth-great-grandfather for the longest time. But when I finally broke it down, I was not disappointed: the name goes back to the year 1250, and the recorded line itself goes back 200 years before that.

Laura Belle Leftwich Hancock, circa 1930.     

The person closest to me with his ancient name is my third-great-grandmother, Laura Belle Leftwich. (I featured her daughter and my great-great-grandmother, Vazzie Angelee Hancock, in a 52 Ancestors post last year.) Laura's family was one of modest means by the time she was born. At the time of her birth they had worked in the salt mines at Malden, WV, for two generations. A version of these mines is still in operation today, as the J. Q. Dickinson Salt Works.

But the Leftwich family was not always one of such modest means. Laura's great-grandfather, James Thomas Leftwich, was born into a wealthy family in Beford County, VA in 1789 and moved to Kanawha County, WV before 1840. James Thomas' grandfather and great-grandfather, both named Augustine Leftwich, were wealthy land owners who held high-ranking military positions. Augustine Sr. was a sergeant in the colonial militia during the French and Indian War, and Augustine Jr. was a Captain in the Virginia militia during the American Revolution. Records of land grants show that both held huge tracks of land in Bedford County, and that their estates were rather large. It was Augustine Sr.'s grandfather, Ralph Leftwich, that immigrated to the New World and patented lands in Virginia in 1658.

The title page of Walter Lee Hopkins'
history of the Leftwich family.

According to The Leftwich-Turner Families of Virginia and Their Connections by Walter Lee Hopkins, the Leftwich family has been considered nobility in England since the time of William the Conqueror, although at the time they were not named Leftwich. The progenitor of our Leftwich line was actually Lord Richard de Vernon, a Norman nobleman who fought in the Battle of Hastings alongside William the Conqueror in 1066. As a reward for his loyalty he was given the title of Baron of Shipbrook and Leftwyk (the old English spelling of Leftwich), and all of the lands that accompanied the title. Five generations later the de Vernon male line came to an end and the estate was passed to Matild de Vernon, who married Sir Richard de Wilburgham. Their daughter, Matilda de Wilburgham, married Sir Richard de Wynyngton, who adopted the name of Leftwyk from his wife's estate. From that time on the family carried the name of Leftwyk, which later came to be Leftwich.

All told, the Leftwich family goes back 23 generations from Laura Belle Leftwich to Richard de Wynyngton, who took the name of Leftwyk from his wife's estate. The family goes back another 6 generations to Lord Richard de Vernon, who was given the Barony of Shipbrook and Leftwich by William the Conqueror. This gives us a total of 29 generations from Laura Belle Leftwich to Sir Richard, and a total of 34 generations between myself and Sir Richard.

I would be remiss in my genealogical duties if I did not mention one last interesting bit of information regarding the Leftwich family. Like so many noble lines, the Leftwich line does tie into the ranks of royalty. Thomas Leftwich, great-grandfather of the Ralph who immigrated to Virginia in 1658, married Katherine Holford, who was a descendant of King Henry III of England. This would make me the 26th-great-granddaughter of King Henry III; but unfortunately, the only thing that being Henry's 26th-great-granddaughter entitles me to is some bragging rights.

~ ~ ~

My descent from Sir Richard de Wynyngton, the first person to use the early form of Leftwich as his name, is as follows:

Richard de Wynynton - 26th great-grandfather
Mary de Wynynton - Daughter of Robert de Wynynton
Richard de Leftewyk - Son of Mary de Wynynton
Richard de Leftwiche - Son of Richard de Leftewyk
Richard de Leftwich Baron of Shipbrook - Son of Richard de Leftwiche
Richard de Leftwich - Son of Richard de Leftwich Baron of Shipbrook
Robert de Leftwich - Son of Richard de Leftwich
Richard de Leftwiche - Son of Robert de Leftwich
Robert de Leftwiche - Son of Richard de Leftwiche
Richard Leftwich - Son of Robert de Leftwiche
Richard Leftwich - Son of Richard Leftwich
George Leftwich - Son of Richard Leftwich
Thomas Leftwich -1570 - Son of George Leftwich
Ralph Leftwich 1548-1624 - Son of Thomas Leftwich
Thomas Leftwich - Son of Ralph Leftwich
Ralph Leftwich 1628-1680 - Son of Thomas Leftwich
Thomas Leftwich Sr 1665-1730 - Son of Ralph Leftwich
Augustine Leftwich 1712-1795 - Son of Thomas Leftwich Sr
Augustine Leftwich Jr. 1744-1835 - Son of Augustine Leftwich
James (Red Head) Leftwich 1779-1854 - Son of Augustine Leftwich Jr.
James Thomas Leftwich 1795-1874 - Son of James (Red Head) Leftwich
Jesse Leftwich 1816-1894 - Son of James Thomas Leftwich
Joel Leftwich 1851-1920 - Son of Jesse Leftwich
Laura Belle "Fannie" Leftwich 1881-1957 - Daughter of Joel Leftwich
Vazzie Angelee Hancock 1900-1984 - Daughter of Laura Belle "Fannie" Leftwich
Earnest Zacharias Hunt 1921-2008 - Son of Vazzie Angelee Hancock
Phyllis Carolyn Hunt 1943- - Daughter of Earnest Zacharias Hunt
Lora Marlene Quinn 1961- - Daughter of Phyllis Carolyn Hunt
Allison Quinn Kessinger - You are the daughter of Lora Marlene Quinn

2020 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks: Week 2: "Favorite Photo" - Madaline Eva Moore Hunt and Her Best Friends

This week's theme is one of those that can be incredibly daunting, simply because I have so many family photos that I love! It was a tough decision, but in the end I decided on three beautiful photos that span four friends, four interwoven family lines, and 70 years.

Top, L-R: Madaline Moore Hunt (with back turned), Margaret Hunt Douglas (holding son, Roy Douglas), Juanita Hancock Hunt, and Anna Mae Hancock Kelly. Taken circa 1941.
Bottom Left, L-R: Margaret Hunt Douglas and Madaline Moore Hunt. Taken in 2013.
Bottom Right, L-R: Madaline Moore Hunt and Anna Mae Hancock Kelly. Taken in 2009.

I found the first photo in an album of old photos from the childhood and teenage years of my mom's maternal grandmother, Madaline Eva "Madge" Moore Hunt. It was taken in 1941: Mamaw* Madge was 18 years old, a newlywed, and pregnant with her first child. She is the one on the far left, with her back turned. Beside of her is her sister-in-law, Luticia Margot "Margaret" Hunt Douglas holding her first child, Roy Douglas. To Margaret's left is Juanita Hancock Hunt (who married a cousin of my great-grandfather's), and on the far right is Anna Mae Hancock Kelly, Juanita's sister.

I don't remember ever meeting Juanita, but I grew up knowing my great-grandmother Madge, my great-great-Aunt Margaret, my cousin Roy, and Anna Mae. When I found this photo in 2011 Roy had already passed away, but Mamaw Madge, Margaret, Juanita, and Anna Mae were all still living. I came up with the idea to recreate the original photo of them 70 years later, in the same location, and in the same poses. I loved how after 70 years, the same teenage girls who posed for an impromptu snapshot were now in their late 80s and still best friends. 

Unfortunately we never got to recreate the photo, but I found the next best thing. The photo of Mamaw and Margaret on the bottom left was taken at Mamaw's 90th birthday party in 2013, and the photo of Mamaw and Anna Mae on the bottom right was taken at a church function in 2009. I was sad that we never got to recreate the the original, but maybe it was for the best; Mamaw's first baby that she was expecting when it was taken passed away after living for only twelve hours, and Margaret's son that she was holding passed away years before I ever found the original, in 1999. If we had done the recreation, it would have only been a reminder that not everyone was there to make it complete.

Anna Mae was the first of the four best friends to pass away, in 2014. Mamaw followed three years later, in 2017. My great-great-Aunt Margaret is still alive and well and preparing to celebrate her 96th birthday next month, and as far as I know Juanita is also still alive and well. 

I mentioned in the first paragraph that the photos represented four interwoven family lines. It is obvious how Mamaw Madge and Aunt Margaret are related to me, but I was surprised to find that Juanita and Anna Mae are also doubly related to me, and by marriage they were all related to one another. I explained already that Mamaw and Margaret were sisters-in-law; Margaret's brother, Ernest Zacharias "Zack" Hunt, was my great-grandfather. While preparing for this blog post I found that Juanita and Anna Mae were Papaw's* cousins on his mother's side. Papaw's great-grandfather, Henry Chapman Hancock, and their grandfather, Thomas Horton Hancock, were brothers. I also found that Juanita and Anna Mae's grandmother, Mary Bradley, was the sister of my great-great-grandmother on my mother's father's side, Nancy Bradley. I suppose it truly is a small world.

* For anyone unfamiliar with Appalachian terminology, the names "Mamaw" and Papaw" are often used instead of "Grandma" and "Grandpa."

~ ~ ~

My descent from Madaline Eva "Madge" Moore Hunt is as follows:

Madaline Eva Moore 1923-2017

great-grandmother

Phyllis Carolyn Hunt 1943-

Daughter of Madaline Eva Moore

Lora Marlene Quinn 1961-

Daughter of Phyllis Carolyn Hunt

Allison Quinn Kessinger

You are the daughter of Lora Marlene Quinn