On 01 April 1928, Jim Hemphill and Leo Morrison were joined in the holy bonds of matrimony. They were married in Murray County, Georgia.

Jim was my grandfather’s eldest brother.

Analysis

From this record, I learned the date and place of Jim and Leo’s wedding.  This also gave me a primary source for Leo’s surname and middle name (her full name was Mattie Leo Morrison).

Source:  Murray County, Georgia, Marriage Book O: 49, Hemphill-Morrison, 1928, recorded license (with original signatures) and return; Probate Court’s Office, Chatsworth.

On 31 July 1931, Elmer Hemphill and Bessie Quarles were joined in the holy bonds of matrimony. They were married in Murray County, Georgia.

Elmer was my maternal grandfather’s elder brother.

Analysis

From this record, I learned Bessie’s surname. I also learned the date and place of their marriage.

It’s interesting that Bessie was a Quarles.  I have Quarles ancestors on my father’s side;  I’ll want to look for a connection between Bessie and my paternal Quarles’.

Source:  Murray County, Georgia, Marriage Book O: 164, Hemphill-Quarles, 1931, recorded license (with original signatures) and return; Probate Court’s Office, Chatsworth.

As I wrote about on Sunday, the second assignment in Lesson Two of the NGS Home Study Course is to make an inventory of family papers found at home (or at a relative’s) and to include the paper’s provenance and genealogical information and clues.  My list (limited to ten items) is below:

1. Article regarding funeral services for my great-great-grandfather, Martin LaFayette Roberts: this article was published in The Chatsworth Times on April 9, 1925.  A microfilm printout was given to me by my cousin, D. Davis in early 2010.  It contains a wealth of genealogical information:  it names his death date and residence, birth date and place, his wife’s full name (including her maiden name), and all eight of his children and their residences at the time.
2. Military discharge paper for my father, which was given to me by him in 2009.  It includes his birth date, residences at the time of his entry into active service and after discharge, along with various detail regarding his military service
3. Letter from Mary Jane (Hemphill) Stroud to Malinda “Josephine” (Hemphill) Butler:  This letter was given to me by mother, who obtained it from my father’s aunt, Edna Josephine Butler (Josephine’s granddaughter and namesake).  Mary Jane and Josephine were sisters and the letter was written in 1910 after their father’s death.  It refers to both their residences at the time, discusses some questions regarding the disposition of their father’s estate, and remarks that their mother lies in an unmarked grave in North Carolina.
4. Georgia Life magazine, Autumn 1974 edition.  The magazine includes an article about my great-grandmother, Rachel (Johnson) Ward, and was given to me my mother in 2010.  Genealogical information included in the article includes her age at the time, how long she and my great-grandfather had lived in Chatsworth, Georgia, that they were both natives of Fannin County, Georgia, how long they had been married, the number of children they had, and it names one of their daughters as Mrs. Alfred Flowers (which tells me her husband’s name).
5. Program from a commemorative service honoring Captain Thomas Hemphill, an ancestor who fought in the American Revolution.  I attended the service, which was held on June 13, 1998.  The program includes a miniature copy of a certified copy of payment to Thomas Hemphill for his service in July 1790 from the North Carolina Historical Commission.  It also includes a brief biography of Thomas including his parents’ names, approximate birth date and place, information about his military service, names his wife, her parents and birth and death dates, and the names of their 13 children and spouses
6. Delayed birth certificate for my grandfather, John Edward Hemphill.  This was given to me by mother.  It includes my grandfather’s birth date and place, parents’ names and birthplaces, and address at the time the certificate was issued (1957).
7. A cancelled check written by my great-grandfather, J. A. Hemphill, dated January 11, 1928.  This check was given to me by my grandmother, J. A.’s daughter-in-law.  The check is supposed to have been for the purchase of the family farm (I need to verify this through deed research).
8. A set of pedigree charts, family group sheets, and supporting documents.  These were given to me by my paternal grandmother and were prepared by her sister in 1992.  There is too much genealogical information included to be listed here.
9. DAR application for Rosa Hemphill.  This was given to me by my mother, who received it from a cousin, Nina Greenlee.  It includes genealogical information on our mutual patriot ancestor, Captain Thomas Hemphill, including birth information, wife’s name, and the name of one son and his spouse.  It also includes a photocopy of Thomas’ father’s will, which names his wife and children.
10. Photocopy of military discharge for my grandfather, John Edward Hemphill.  This was given to me by my mother.  It includes my grandfather’s date and place of birth, residence and occupation at the time he enlisted, a physical description, and various details about his military service.

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Building Erected More than 150 Years Ago Destroyed By Fire Last Sunday Afternoon

One of the historic homes of McDowell County passed Sunday when the Burgin home on Catawba river was destroyed by fire at 1:30 p. m.

This old homestead, which was situated a mile east of Old Fort, was built over 150 years ago and was the home of J. B. Burgin until his death, having been in the Burgin family for four generations.

It was here that General Locke Craig met Miss Annie Burgin, the daughter of J. B. Burgin, who later became his wife, the marriage taking place in this home.

Many people of McDowell county will be sorry to hear of the destruction by fire of the old Burgin home, which was the center of the social life of the community for years.  The house was originally built of hewn walnut logs.  Later the logs were weatherboarded and extra rooms added.  This history of this old plantation is the history of Old Fort and vicinity, the Burgins, Greenlees, Davidsons, Carsons, and McDowells being the earliest settlers of this part of Western North Carolina.

Due to the Burgin house being outside the water limits of Old Fort, the fire department could not check the blaze and the flames from the huge walnut logs made a spectacular show for the large crowd of people present.  It is supposed the fire was caused by a defective flue.

This property is owned by the Bancroft Company of Wilmington, Del., who purchased 500 acres on Catawba river and Curtis creek several years ago for a site to locate a bleachery.

This article was originally published in The Marion Progress on January 13, 1929.

Source:  Burgin, Don. “Fire Destroys the Old Homeplace.” Voices from the Past: A Burgin Genealogy Website. 25 Oct. 2008 (http://theburginfamily.org/house/1929fire.html).

Note:  the collage was created with pieces from the Butterfly Kisses Scrapkit by Tamara Dantes.

Twice Told Tuesday is an ongoing series featuring family-related articles republished from old books, magazines, and newspapers. To see all posts in the series, click here.

The “Family Tree” tab (above) contains a database of all my genealogy research.  I thought it would be helpful to provide a navigational overview.

The Genealogy Menu is visible in the sidebar whenever you are in the “Family Tree” section.  It contains links to:

• Surnames includes a list of the top 30 surnames in the database, ordered by number of people, as well as links to all surnames alphabetically.
• What’s New includes recent additions and changes.
• Documents includes census images, military records, book excerpts, and more.
• Cemeteries shows where relatives are buried.  Drill down by location to see each cemetery and the people buried there.
• Headstones contains all the headstone photos I have, with links to cemetery and person pages.
• Places is a high-level overview of the locations where people lived, including the top 30 localities, ordered by number of places within that locality.  Click on the magnifying glass icon next to any location to see the people who lived there.
• Notes contains all my research notes.  Click on the link to see the complete family or person page to which the note refers.
• Dates and Anniversaries defaults to events that happened on today’s date in history.  You can search for any event on any day using the search fields at the top of the page.
• Statistics contains a summary of the database; see the number individuals, families, unique surnames, documents, sources, and more.
• Contact Us – click here to send me an email.

This post is #1 of an ongoing series about navigating and using the Tonia’s Roots website.  To see all posts in the series, click here.