Tonia's Roots » Stroud

Tombstone Tuesday: Margaret A. Stanfield

Tonia Kendrick — Tue, 27 Sep 2011 16:00:53 +0000

Margaret A. Stanfield was born June 23, 1837. She died October 1, 1851 and is buried at Ball Ground Cemetery in Murray County, Georgia. I believe that she is the daughter of John Stroud and Delilah Bright and the wife of Willis M. Stanfield; however both these assertions need further research before being consider proved.

Tombstone Tuesday: John Stroud

Tonia Kendrick — Tue, 13 Sep 2011 13:00:59 +0000

John Stroud was born December 25, 1807 and died May 27, 1898. He is buried in Ball Ground Cemetery in Murray County, Georgia.

Tombstone Tuesday: Rebecca D. Stroud

Tonia Kendrick — Tue, 30 Aug 2011 13:00:44 +0000

Rebecca D. Stroud, daughter of John Stroud and Delilah Bright was born May 19, 1848. She died at the age of eight, in October 1856, and is buried at Ball Ground Cemetery in Murray County, Georgia.

Last Will and Testament of Thomas Bratcher Hemphill

Tonia Kendrick — Fri, 26 Aug 2011 16:29:14 +0000

Transcription

North Carolina

McDowell County

	I Thomas Bratcher Hemphill of the aforesaid county and state, being of sound mind, but considering the uncertainty of my earthly existence, do make and declare this my last will and testament.
First	My Executor hereinafter named shall give my body a decent burial, suitable to the wishes of my friends and relatives. And for all funeral expenses together with all any just debts out of the money which may come into his hands belonging to my estate.
Second	I give and devise to my beloved sister Mary Ann McEntire’s legal heirs and Thos. A. Porter and Wm. Y. Porter equally my entire landed property and all [?] chattel [sic] property & in said state.
second [sic]	I give and devise to my two nieces [sic] Mary Jane Stroud and Josephine Butler of Georgia my land in Murry [sic] County Ga.
Third	I give and bequeath to my beloved nephew J. C. McEntire my rifle gun.
Fourth	I give and bequeath to my beloved nephew John Bratcher Porter son of Thomas Porter my double barrel shot gun.
Fifth	I give and bequeath to my beloved neice [sic] Rosanna Barrett my horses mules and wagon, buggy etc. hogs and three choice milk cows provided she stays here if she does not then they must be sold and the proceed divided between the McEntire heirs and Thomas & Wm Porter (equal).
sixth	I give and bequeath to my beloved neice [sic] Rosanna Barrett my household and kitchen furniture.
seventh	I give and bequeath to my nephew Geo. Lytle three or four hundred dollars in cash provided theres money enough to do it. If not have what may be left of the Amt.
Eighth	I give and bequeath to my beloved nephew Thos. Hemphill son of Jas. Y. Hemphill one hundred dollars provided theres money to pay it.
Ninth	I give and bequeath to my beloved neice [sic] Rosanna Barrett my farming tools Crop of corn & wheat &c.
Tenth	I hereby constitute and appoint my trusted friends Thomas A. Porter and Rosanna Barrett my lawfull executor to all interests and purposes to execute this my last will and testament. According to the true intents and meaning of the same and every part and clause thereof hereby revoking and declaring utterly void all other wills and testaments by me heretofore made. In witness whereof I the said Thomas Bratcher Hemphill do hereunto set my hand and seal. This the 22nd day of Oct. 1903. Thomas Bratcher Hemphill {seal} Signed and published and declared by the said Thomas Bratcher Hemphill to be his last will and testament in the presence of us, who at his request and in his presence do subscribe our names as witnesses thereto. J. O. Simmons {seal} T. E. Sallerwhite {seal}
	North Carolina McDowell County } In the Superior Court It is therefore considered And adjudged by the Court that the said paper-writing and every part thereof is the last will and testament of Thomas Bratcher Hemphill deceased. Let the said will together with the probate be recorded and filed This the 26th day of October 1903. Thomas Morris Clerk of the Superior Court

Source: McDowell County, North Carolina, “North Carolina Probate Records, 1735-1970″, will book entry for Thomas Bratcher Hemphill pp. 554-555, digital images no. 308-309; “Wills 1869-1903,” digital images, FamilySearch (http://www.familysearch.org: accessed 30 June 2011).

North Carolina Probate Records on FamilySearch

Tonia Kendrick — Wed, 13 Jul 2011 21:42:51 +0000

A couple of weeks ago, a tweet passed through my Twitter stream from @FSHistRecords announcing that North Carolina Probate Records had been added to FamilySearch. Since I have many, many ancestors who lived in North Carolina, I immediately clicked on the link. This is one of those non-indexed databases that FamilySearch is doing now, in order to get the images out there as quickly as possible. I must say, I’m thrilled that they are doing this. I can browse through images online just like I can microfilm. I clicked on browse images to see if any of my known counties were represented and was pleased to see so many county names.

I wasn’t doing any research at the time, just watching TV and catching up on my RSS feeds, so I decided to go on a little fishing expedition.

First I clicked on McDowell County, because that’s the last place that my Hemphill lines lived before coming to Georgia and I figured the chance of finding at least one Hemphill represented was pretty good.

As you can see there are a number of options, including estate records, executor records, and wills. I zeroed in on the Will Index and skipped through until I found the page with Hemphills listed.

“Thomas B.” jumped out at me; that probably would be Thomas Bratcher Hemphill, brother to my 3rd great-grandfather, Ben Hemphill, and half-brother to my 2^nd great-grandfather, J. Y. Hemphill. The index told me that Thomas B. Hemphill’s will was probated in 1903 and was recorded in Will Book 2, on page 554.

I went back to the McDowell County page and looked at the options again. It isn’t organized by Will Book name, but rather by date, so I chose the link that included 1903, which is called “Wills 1869-1903.” I quickly realized that the page number from the will book didn’t match the image numbers from the database, so I started jumping around in the images toward the end, until I narrowed in on p. 554, which turned out to be image number 308.

Sure enough, in the middle of the page, a new will started for “I, Thomas Bratcher Hemphill.” Yay!

I printed out Thomas’ will, which took up 3 pages in the will book, but is only two images online.

Thomas never married, so he left all his property to various nieces and nephews, including my 2^nd great-grandmother, Josephine (Hemphill) Butler.

This whole process only took 29 minutes. And I did it all in my pajamas from the comfort of my living room sofa. I love 21^st century genealogy!

On this date. . .the 18th of June

Tonia Kendrick — Sat, 18 Jun 2011 11:07:40 +0000

Births

Anna Barbara (Albright) Powell was born in 1754 (my 6th great-grandmother).
Margaret E. (Dellinger) Whitener was born in 1807.
Elizabeth Patterson was born in 1808.
Lee B. Stroud was born in 1898 in Texas.

Deaths

John Wilfong died in 1838 in Newton, North Carolina.
Robert Elliott Morrison died in 1867 in Chatsworth, Georgia.

Marriages

Julia Bowers and Walter Thomas Hemphill were married in 1933 in Murray County, Georgia.

Click on any link above to see more information about these individuals, including source citations.

On this date. . .the 16th of June

Tonia Kendrick — Thu, 16 Jun 2011 11:04:02 +0000

Births

William Sullins was born in 1828 in Rutherford County, North Carolina.

Deaths

Herrod Rudd died in 1829 in McMinn County, Tennessee (my 5th great-grandfather).
Elizabeth Sophronia (Lytle) Burgin died in 1837 in Burke County, North Carolina.
Calvin M. Stroud died in 1821.

On this date. . .the 10th of June

Tonia Kendrick — Fri, 10 Jun 2011 10:58:55 +0000

Births

James Hardy Whiteside was born in 1818 in Rutherford County, North Carolina.
Joel Nabors was born in 1822 in North Carolina.

Deaths

Johannes Renner died in 1733.
Anna Maria (Keller) Albright died in 1803 in Guilford, North Carolina (my 7th great-grandmother).
Thomas Rudd died in 1807.
Sheriff Johannes Peter Mull died in 1814 in Burke County, North Carolina.
Annis L. (Stroud) Bailey died in 1911 in Waco, Texas.

Marriages

Rebecca (MNU) and John M. Chapman were married in 1838 in Lumpkin County, Georgia.
Malissa Ellis and John W. Parrott were married in 1866 in Gordon County, Georgia.

On this date. . .the 7th of June

Tonia Kendrick — Tue, 07 Jun 2011 10:53:19 +0000

Births

Martha Jane (Garrett) Johnson was born in 1854 in Fannin County, Georgia (my 2nd great-grandmother).
Florence B. Stroud was born in 1880.

Deaths

Philip Burgin died in 1709 in Shrewsbury Parish, Maryland (my 8th great-grandfather).
Mary (Poffh) Wilfong died in 1816 in Newton, North Carolina (my 6th great-grandmother).
Merritt Burgin died in 1837 in Old Fort, North Carolina.
Thomas Didamus German, Jr. died in 1921.

On this date. . .the 27th of May

Tonia Kendrick — Fri, 27 May 2011 11:45:46 +0000

Births

Malinda Josephine (Hemphill) Butler was born in 1860 in Murray County, Georgia (my 2nd great-grandmother).

Deaths

John Stroud died in 1898 in Murray County, Georgia.
Rachael E. (Lance) Johnson died in 1925 in Dial, Georgia.
Kate Young (Hemphill) Greenlee died in 1949.