Births

• Tamer Debord was born in 1729 in Rappahannock County, Virginia.

Deaths

• John Wilfong Whitener, Jr. died in 1876 in Morgan County, Indiana.
• Martha (Debord) Hill died in 1885 in Mountaintown, Georgia.
• William Henry Langston died in 1920 in Chattanooga, Tennessee.
• William LaFayette Roberts died in in 1954 in Whitfield County, Georgia.
• James Buford Roberts died in 1966 in Dalton, Georgia.

Births

• Elijah Ellis was born in 1800 in Greene County, Georgia.
• James M. Young was born in 1835.
• William Henry Roberts was born in 1857 in Hamilton County, Tennessee.

Births

• Jonathan Calhoun Whitesides was born in 1828 in North Carolina.
• Mary Jane Roberts was born in 1856 in Hamilton County, Tennessee.
• Julia Ann (Terry) Patterson was born in 1871 in Murray County, Georgia.
• Newton Coleman Ward was born in 1890 in Newport, Georgia (my great-grandfather).

Deaths

• William Frizer died in 1677 in Westmoreland County, Virginia.
• Thomas Bradshaw Hemphill died in 1903 in Dysartsville, North Carolina.
• George Washington Langston died in 1929 in Chattanooga, Tennessee.

Marriages

• Absolom Miller and Mary Whitener were married in 1826 in Lincoln County, North Carolina.

My great-great-great-grandfather, Monteville Roberts, was born April 27, 1827 in McMinn County, Tennessee, the son of John Roberts and Rebecca (possibly Sammons).  He is found in Bradley County, Tennessee in 1840 and 1850 and in Hamilton County, Tennessee in 1860.  

Monteville married Mariah Langston on July 18, 1852.  (I have conflicting information regarding Mariah’s family, which I will try to decipher in a later post.)  He enlisted in the Confederate Army in the spring of 1863.  He fought in several battles in North Georgia, eventually losing his left arm after being shot at the Battle of New Hope Church.  Monteville and Mariah were burned out of their home in Hamilton County by the Yankees and moved to Murray County, Georgia, where they stayed for the remainder of their lives, except for brief stays in neighboring Whitfield County. 

 Monteville died December 1, 1895 and is buried at Spring Place Cemetery in Murray County.

Mariah Langston was my 3-x great-grandmother.  She was born February 25, 1833[1] in Sevier County, Tennessee[2].  She married Monteville Roberts July 18, 1852 in Bradley County, Tennessee².  They lived in Hamilton County, Tennessee[3], just across the Georgia state line during their early marriage.

Mariah is one of my heroes from my family tree.  When her husband was away, fighting in the Civil War, their home and family businesses (grist mill, blacksmith shop, etc.) were burned to the ground by the Yankees.  Mariah gathered up the few belongings that remained and walked with her six children – ranging in age from 2 to 12 – to Spring Place, Murray County, Georgia.  Fighting was hot in Northwest Georgia at that time, so enemy soldiers would have been everywhere.  Family legend says that Mariah got a wagon-ride with a Union soldier by flashing him a secret Mason signal[4] – Monteville was a Freemason and Mariah was in the Order of the Eastern Star (see the symbol inscribed at the top of her tombstone).

Mariah resided in Spring Place until at least 1907².  She is pictured in the Roberts Family Reunion photograph that I posted here, standing next to the left porch column, wearing a black hat and scarf[5].  She appears on the 1910 census twice, living with two different grandsons.[6] ^and [7] She died April 19, 1916¹ at the age of 83 and is buried at Spring Place Cemetery¹.

[2] “Georgia, Confederate Pension Applications, 1879-1960″; online database and digital images, Ancestry.com, Ancestry.com, (www.ancestry.com), entry for Mariah Roberts, widow of Monteville Roberts,”29th Tennessee Inf., Co. A, 1901 Indigent Widow.” accessed 15 Feb 2009.

[3] 1860 U.S. census, Hamilton County, Tennessee population schedule; digital images, Ancestry.com; citing National Archives and Records Administration microfilm M653, (http://www.ancestry.com), Roll M653_1253, population schedule, District 6, p. 47 (penned), dwelling 329, family 331, Mariah Roberts; accessed 31 Dec 2007.

[4] “Descendents of John M. Roberts,” supplied 2008 by Mosteller; photocopy supplied by D. H. Davis., B. Mosteller, 3 (Reliability: 1), 02 Nov 2008.

[5] G. Cochran [(E-ADDRESS) FOR PRIVATE USE,] to Tonia Kendrick, e-mail; privately held by Kendrick, [(E-ADDRESS) FOR PRIVATE USE,], 14 Mar 2009, “Comments”; (Reliability: 2), 25 Jul 2009.

[6] 1910 U.S. census, Whitfield County, Georgia population schedule; digital images, Ancestry.com; citing National Archives and Records Administration microfilm T624., (http://www.ancestry.com), roll T624_220; population schedule, Dalton, enumeration district (ED) 155, sheet 12 A, dwelling 233, Mariah Roberts;  accessed 30 Dec 2008.

[7] 1910 U.S. census, Murray County, Georgia population schedule; digital images, Ancestry.com; citing National Archives and Records Administration microfilm T624, (http://www.ancestry.com), roll T624_205; population schedule, Bull Pen District, enumeration district (ED) 111, sheet 1 A, dwelling 3, Mariah Roberts; accessed 29 Dec 2008.

• Veteran’s Day newspaper article about my dad. http://ow.ly/BK34 #
• This looks fun. RT @rootstelevision: RT @mjnrootdig Famous Census Searches are back http://bit.ly/1fwpCT #genealogy #
• Found 1910 census record for Mattie (Butler) Sampler, Charles Sampler, and William Butler. http://ow.ly/BLZo #genealogy #surnames #
• Thanks for the RTs! @Ginisology @auldmags @sjtaliaferro @BBPetura @LCAfricana @tjlgenes #
• reading Beyond Names, Dates, and Places http://ow.ly/BYOZ #
• Checking Hamilton Co TN marriage index now. Genealogy Roots Blog: Recently Added Online Birth and Marriage Records Indexes http://ow.ly/C1qq #
• Coins from 69 AD. How cool is that? RT @TomKemp: Old charred coins found on Temple Mount site http://bit.ly/2fG2OA #
• So true! RT @geneabloggers: RT @tjlgenes: The more I write on my #genealogy blog, the more I realize I need to learn about my ancestors #
• Off to the library to look at old newspapers on microfilm. #
• Subscribed to Michael John Neill’s Casefile Clues. Looking forward to receiving first issue. http://ow.ly/CbMt #
• Back from the library with 6 newspaper articles found on microfilm. Will write blog post later today. #
• Added 1900 census abstracts to individuals in the David S. Butler household. http://ow.ly/CtSm #
• Uploaded 1900 U.S. census, Murray County, Georgia pop. sch.; Ball Ground,(ED) 69, sheet 16, p. 6 A. Butler #surname #genealogy #
• Ditto! RT @ACoffin: Welcome to the club. RT @adegroff its official -i got the genealogy bug-am having such fun – ancestry.com rocks my world #
• 2010 OGS Family History Writing Contest http://ow.ly/CPub #
• RT @megansmolenyak: Any feedback for my first post on Huffington Post? “Are You My Cousin?” http://bit.ly/wz27h #genealogy #DNA #23andMe #

Monteville Roberts owned and operated, with the help of family, the combined business establishment of a mill for grinding corn into meal and wheat into flour, a blacksmith shop, and general repair shop, all of which were vitally essential to the people. The combined enterprise, in Hamilton County, Tennessee, provided a flourishing business a home that was considered “fine” at the time.

Monte was talented as a mechanical engineer and could design or build anything anyone wanted him to make. He made many original creations. One of the things he was famous for was his ability to design huge waterwheels for generating power to be used in old mills. He was also an excellent gunsmith with a widely established reputation. In fact, he served the Confederacy by repairing guns for the soldiers of the Army of Tennessee, when they were camped in the area where Monte lived.

Signs of the old mill can still be seen today. From Ringgold Hwy. 151, go north to the Tennessee state line to Hurricane Creek Bridge. Take the 1^st right. At the bridge is a big, nice house, with a fence that goes into the creek. Foundation stones with green moss can be found there today. The old mill stones are in front of a house at East Brainerd Road, one to two miles; the stones are on the left side on a high bank of the road.

From the book Roberts and Allied Families by Tolva Roberts Whitehead (the daughter of Monteville’s son, Loranza).