Tombstone Tuesday-Wm and Alice Vaughn: A Soldier and his Consort

Buried in the Dargan Cemetery in Sumter County, SC

William Vaughn

Photo Courtesy of Michael Dillingham 

 Sacred to the Memory of

Wm Vaughn who departed this life

 Sept. 23, 1857 aged 93 yrs., 4 mos.

                                                

  Alice Cook Vaughn

Photo Courtesy of Michael Dillingham 

Mrs. Alice Vaughn

Born July 24 1774   Died Mar. 8, 1859

Consort of Wm Vaughn Soldier of 76 of Sumter District

Age 84 years, 7 months, and 12 days.  

 These headstones are the last remaining stones in the Dargan Cemetery in Sumter, SC. The cemetery is now on private property and the other stones have been lost or removed by various people over the years. The current owners were kind enough to let the photographer, Michael Dillingham, take these photos to place on Find A Grave just a few months ago in order to fulfill my request for pictures.

©Cheri Hudson Passey

This Week On My Family History Calendar:

July 28-Aug.3

• July 29

The 117th anniversary of the death of my 3rd Great Grandfather Thomas McRady. He died at the age of 74 in 1896 and was from Sumter County, SC.

• August 1

My 2nd Great Grandmother Bessie Mae Eargle Price died 70 years ago in Columbia, Richland, SC. She was 59 years old.


©Cheri Hudson Passey

Saturday Night Genealogy Fun--A 100 Word Genealogy Challenge

Randy Seaver from Genea-Musing issued this challenge:

Your mission this week, should you decide to accept it, is to:

1)  This SNGF is based on the 100 Word Challenge (http://100wc.net/) that school children are participating in around the world.  They are given a word or phrase to write a story about in one hundred words.

1)  Write a short 100 word story using the phrase ",,,the most interesting ancestor I have..." in 100 words.  [Hint:  If you write it in a word processor, you can use Tools > Word Count (or similar) to count words]

2)  Share the story with all of us by writing your own blog post, writing a comment on this blog post, or put it in a Google Plus Stream or Facebook Status or Note.  Please leave a comment on this post so others can find it.

I  chose to write about my Maternal 3^rd Great Grandfather for this challenge because he is the one I am currently researching-that makes him the most interesting ancestor I have....at least for now!

The most interesting ancestor I have is William J. Dorrity.

 William was born in South Carolina about 1820 and married Martha Mathis, the girl-next-door. Together they had at least 12 children and possibly as many as 16!

William was a planter with a farm in Sumter County, SC. where he grew corn, cotton, sweet potatoes and had an orchard with fruit trees.  

 He served in Company G. of the SC 20^th Infantry during the Civil War.

 The 1880 Census reports William Dority as being bedridden with consumption. In 1897 his wife was listed as a widow on the pension roll.

© Cheri Hudson Passey

  

This Week On My Family History Calendar

July 21-July 27

• July 22 

 130 years ago my father's Step-Grandmother,Margaret Ann "Annie" Thames Hudson, was born in 1875 in Clarendon County, SC.  Annie died on her birthday  53 years ago in 1960.

• July 23

Thomas Philip Roberts was born in 1830 in Richland County, SC. He was my 3rd Great Grandfather and would be 183 years old.

• July 25

 My 5th Great Grandmother,Alice Cook Vaughn,would be 239 years old. It is not clear where she was born but she lived in Sumter District, SC.

• July 27

Bertrand Campbell Price. my Great Great Grandfather, was born in 1876 in Aiken County, SC. Cam would be celebrating his 137th birthday.


©Cheri Hudson Passey

This Week On My Family Calendar:

July 14-20

• July 19

Margaret Frances "Fannie" Gibson Thames died 84 years ago. She died in Clarendon County, SC. in 1929. Fannie was my 2nd Great Grandmother.


©Cheri Hudson Passey

This Week On My Family History Calendar

July 7- 13

• Monday, July 8

William A. Martin my 3rd Great Grandfather was born 200 years ago in 1813.Some suggest he was born in N.C.

• Saturday, July 13

  My 2nd Great Grandmother Bessie Mae Eargle Price was born in Aiken County, SC in 1884. She would be celebrating her 129th birthday.


©Cheri Hudson Passey

Fighting With "The Swamp Fox"

Picture Credit: University of South Carolina Library

 While celebrating Independence Day I started thinking about my ancestors that were Revolutionary War Soldiers. I remembered that I had at least one that fought alongside his famous cousin Francis Marion "The Swamp Fox".
 My 6th Great Grandfather, John Marion, Jr. (1738-1780), and many others of the Marion family fought side by side with the man who is called the father of Guerrilla  Warfare.
   In looking at my database, I saw several others who were of age to serve. Could they have served with General Marion?
 I found this great resource online and started looking.

The Swamp Fox: Francis Marion and the Men who Served with him

I found four more:

Lt. John Frierson (1727-1797) 5th Great Grandfather
Capt. Samuel Ervin (1748-1803) 5th Great Grandfather
Henry Richbourg (1737-1810) 6th Great Grandfather
Philip Roberts (1763-1854) 5th Great Grandfather

Mural of Francis Marion and his troops prepared to fight the British
Picture Credit: Swamp Fox Murals Trails Society, Clarendon County, SC

 There were others that had the same names as my ancestors, but I do not know if they are the same person. Some are last names that could be connected to my lines, but I don't have the proof needed.The names of cousins, brothers, and uncles of my people and the names of friends and neighbors appeared on the list as well. It seems that many of my ancestors, along with those they knew and loved joined up to fight for our country's freedom with "The Swamp Fox".

  In 1969, The Wonderful World of Disney produced a T.V. series called The Swamp Fox. I remember watching it as a child. I didn't know I was looking at the story of my ancestors!
I need to go to youtube and watch it again.

Are we kin? Please contact me. T0gether we can find our people.
Thanks so much for stopping by!

Blogging + Cousin Bait = Mystery Picture Success!

  When I began this blog over a year ago, I did so in hopes of reaching "Cousins".
I knew there had to be others out there researching the same lines as me! I also wanted to share my findings with family members and other genealogists as well.
 I had heard much about Blogs being "Cousin Bait". You know- you put the info out there and then search engines will reel them in.
 Well, it happened! It took over a year, but it happened!
 I received an email a few months back from a "Cousin" on my Early/Baker lines. She had found my Blog and Face Book page by doing a search on Google. She was just beginning her research process and wanted to know more. I sent her what I had and in turn she shared with me.
 One thing she shared was another "cousin connection".  She sent me the email address of a person that I had tried to contact  before but had been unsuccessful in doing so. I sent a new message telling her who had given me her email address and asked if she could shed any light on the family. I explained that we shared common ancestors. Her Grandmother was my Grandmother's sister.
 She emailed me back! With pictures!! She said that after a fire at her Grandmother Lola's house a few pictures had been found and that she had them.
 Most of what she sent were pictures that I already had, but there was one that she sent that I had never seen before. She had no idea who it was and asked if I knew.
I had no clue who it was. I told her that I would take it to the next Baker family reunion that was to be held this June. Maybe someone there would know. Since the picture was recovered from Lola's house, it could have been from the Baker/ Early line or from Lola's husband's line, or it could have been a friend of the family.
 I didn't have high hopes that anyone would know.
  The day of the reunion was crazy! An hour and a half drive took almost 3 due to traffic and a wreck on a main road. I figured not many people would be left to ask about the picture by the time we got there. Once we arrived I was sad to see that not many people had even showed up to the reunion. The regulars couldn't be there due to scheduling conflicts.
  I pulled out the mystery picture and started showing it to some of the older people in the group.  My heart nearly stopped as I heard the words " I believe that to be Jubal Early"!
 Jubal Early was my Grandmother's father! I had never seen a picture of him. Another of the older generation looked at it and recognized the picture as Jubal as well.  I couldn't believe it!
 Once I got home I had my Father attach the picture to an email and send it to his cousin. They are grandchildren of Jubal. Without telling her who he thought it was he asked her if she could identify the picture. She responded quickly...."it's Jubal Early!"
  Now I have three people who have identified the picture as Jubal. I feel comfortable that it is indeed him. I have asked to see if there are any other pictures so that I can compare them. I have also sent copies of the picture to other family members to see if they can positively identify him.

Jubal Ransom Early
1888-1964
Copy of Original Owned By Bree Lawson

   So what did I learn from this experience? Blogs can indeed be "Cousin Bait".
 I also learned the importance of contacting as many family members as possible.  Cousins no matter how many times removed may have just what you have been looking for.
 Thanks Cuz!!


© Cheri Hudson Passey